Queenstown is a long way away from Nelson! After around 9.5 hours driving we finally got there. The following day Chris and I rode the hill for the final stage - it was steep but a worthwhile exercise. We picked up Ross from the Airport and made our way to the briefing and prologue.
The prologue was a 5km tt which started with a steep downhill followed by a false flat. Everyone was out with the disc wheels etc - it was quite impressive. I placed 11th - 21 seconds behind the winner. Ross was 2nd and Chris placed 21st.
Day 2 saw our first stage take us to 5 Rivers (80km). It was fairly cool and overcast. We were all keen to see who would be making the moves and who was in shape. The group stayed together as we rode around the undulating road beside the lake. There were a few attacks but nothing that lasted. At about the halfway mark we had a bit of a tail wind and there was a big rolling downhill and uphill. I got a good runup and soon was away by myself. It certainly wasn't part of our plan (which was to come later) but I figured that while it wasn't too hard to maintain I would just see how long it lasted without killing myself. I was soon joined by Chris C which made me laugh - of all the people to turn up it was another NA rider! The group behind didn't seem to be catching up so we kept our pace up. Our support police car pulled over to let us go past as we had too much of a gap on the group. Our escapade lasted about 20km before we were joined by one of the sprinters - then they really started to chase as the sprint points were coming up. They caught us about 2km to the sprint line. Ross said they had been chasing hard for ages so we weren't doing too badly. We survived the argy bargy of the sprint and settled back into the group. The hill points were coming up and with only about 10km left to go after the hill it was our intention to get away there. We had told Oliver Whalley of our plan and as he was only interested in the hill points he was quite happy to tag along. We hit the climb (which by Nelson standards wasn't that bad). I sat on the front and just increased the pace the whole way. At the top Ollie got the points followed by Ross and myself. We had two others with us - Chris Brooks and Craig Best. We worked together on the downhill and the run in to the line. We could see the others coming and I did some big turns as our plan was to get Ross in Yellow. He won the sprint followed by Chris B and Ollie I came 5th but hadn't lost any time which was the main thing. The others were 4 seconds back. Chris C had got dropped on the hill and was 1:12 down. This put Ross in yellow and placed me 4th overall.
Stage 2 and the threat of rain and increasing wind loomed. The stage travelled from 5 Rivers to finish in Manapouri. It wasn't very hilly but was quite exposed. The big boys kept the pressure on in the wind to try and split the group. It was much easier trying to work with them than suffering in the gutter. KOM points were at around the half way mark. Any early break went clear to try and pick up the points. We left it a little late to reel them back in and caught all but one before the line. Our pressure on the hill split the group and Chris and some others dropped off. Ross was looking fairly comfortable - it was certainly a stage that suited him. I had decided to work for Ross. There were a number of attacks which we were able to bring back. I kept the pace as high as possible for the last 7km riding on the front to discourage any last minute attacks. Ross only managed 4th in the sprint with Chris Henderson winning the stage. The group we had dropped on the hill lost 9 minutes!
Day 3 Stage 3 After a good nights sleep and breakfast at our palatial Possum Lodge accommodation we were ready for another full day. Stage 3 was a 20km Time Trial from Manapouri to Te Anau. It's a fairly flat course but is a bit exposed to the wind. I was still in 4th place overall and so was 4th last to start for our race. There was a lot of TT gear rolling about and rumours of "Special" tt training that people had been doing. A number of riders had trained specifically for this tour which made our rather ad hoc approach seem a little out of place. I was keen to do the best I could and rode as hard as possible. I managed to catch my minute man about 1km from the end but he had been in my sights for some time. The support vehicle for the guy behind me kept jumping up in front and timing the difference. It was a relief to get to the end. I finished in 0:28:57 which put me in 3rd place! I had lost 36 sec to the winner Chris Brooks who had won the TT and was now tour leader. Ross had placed 7th - 1:18 down on Chris B. This put me in 2nd place overall - 50sec down with Ross at 4th with 1:15. Things were certainly going to be interesting and I doubted my chances of closing 50 sec.
Stage 4 raced back from Te Anau to 5 Rivers. There was an early attack from one rider but it was a bit windy so the bunch was happy to just let it go. When the time gap got to around 4 minutes we started to pick up the pace. About a third of the way through the stage was the hill points. Together with Ollie we really picked up the pace and split the group. Ross had made the cut as had Chris Brooks and about 5 others. We worked together and with what was now a tail wind sat at around 60kph on the flat (I was looking for an extra gear). We soon caught the breakaway rider. John McKenzie who had been 3rd on GC wasn't with us so it was in Chris and my interests to keep things going. The finish came down to a sprint. I tried to lead Ross out which didn't quite work and he only managed 3rd. This also moved him up to 3rd overall. The chasing group was 1:11 behind with Chris C in another group at 1:54. On the way back we drove along the finishing approach for the last stage. We measured the climb and discussed what opportunities there were for making up the 50sec that I needed. The final climb was around 2km long but to make up 50 sec over such a short distance seemed impossible.
Day 4 Stage 5 - Queenstown to Glenorchy. We woke to a blustery, cold, rainy morning. The stage to Glenorchy is far from flat. Being 50sec down I was pretty keen on just staying with the front runners. Right from the start we began to lose people. It wasn't so much from attacks but more due to the steep undulating terrain. Some initial attacks were quickly chased down by myself and Chris Brooks. The wind which was quickly turning into a head wind discouraged many more from trying to break away. Eventually a small group of about 8 of us pulled away from the main field on the KOM climb. Together we worked to increase our lead over the remaining bunch. The finish came down to a sprint. The guys behind us were a further 1:45 back with Chris C in a group further behind at 9:54. Ross was 2nd on the sprint points overall and would need to win the next sprint to beat Chris Henderson.
Stage 6 - Glenorchy - Moke Lake. The final stage returned back the way we had come, finishing slightly short of Queenstown at Moke Lake. Chris and I had ridden the Moke Lake climb on the Friday so we knew how long and steep it was (its a bit like Anniseed but is 2km long and doesn't have the ultra steep pitches). Still at 50sec behind our plan was to hit the climb before the Moke Lake turn off as hard as possible. From there it would be only a short downhill to the turn off. Chris C attacked from the start of the stage... Well he went to attack but dropped his chain. We all waited for him to get it back on before he launched his attack again. It was short lived and we caught him on the first rise about 200m further down the road. Ross attacked before the sprint points. There was some confusion about if we were waiting for another rider who was getting a wheel change or not (I didn't think we were but Chris Henderson seemed to think otherwise and expressed his opinion pretty directly). I think he was just upset at losing the sprint jersey. The road which had been undulating in the morining seemed almost mountainous during the return trip. The group thinned out quite quickly. Chris Brooks dropped his chain on one of the climbs and I managed to convince the rest of the group to wait for him to catch back up. For a moment I was unsure that they were going to listen to me but eventually they did. I had been super careful with my gear changes as I could see that any lead could be quickly lost through mechanical misadventure. There were a couple of attacks but you could see that people were really just waiting for the Moke Lake climb. Ross attacked on the flat run in to the hill that we were planning to go on. There was little reaction from the group. As Ross was 3rd on GC overall I could see that he was hoping to make it over the first hill in order to be with us on the final climb. I increased my pace and bridged up to Ross taking Ollie in tow. We had a gap on the group now which was a little suprising. I kept the pace up coming down the hill to the turn off, trying to get Ollie to pull through and keep the pace up. Ross was just holding on to the back. We came into the turn off still with a small lead. I went straight into the climb as hard as possible with Ross yelling encouragement. I had thought that Ollie had just been saving himself fro the climb but he almost immediately disappeared. I kept my pace up and reminded myself that this was the last stage and there was no point saving anything. As the climb flattened out I dropped down into a harder gear and tried to keep the pressure on alternating between standing and sitting. The finish line seemed to come up quite quickly and I had thought it was a little further on. I rode across the line and through the people waiting to warm down. Now it was just a matter of waiting to see what the outcome would be but I had won the stage which I was pretty happy about and had beaten the KOM holder on the hardest climb (and it was double points). Ollie finished 2nd 31sec down with Ross in 4th at 40sec. He had been passed by Ben Hillery who finished with Ollie. 31sec seemed a lot over about 2km. Chris Brooks came in 1:13 down which meant I had won the stage and won the Tour with a 23sec buffer! I couldn't believe it. I went and spoke with Chris B. He thanked me for getting the guys to stop when he had dropped his chain and congratulated me. I really just appologised for winning it had been as much a suprise for me as for anyone. Chris C finished 5:41 down so hadn't lost too much time on that stage. The 3 of us rode back to the Backpackers. It had been a good tour. Both Ross and Chris had enjoyed it. My Dad had enjoyed the break as well - along with being exposed to a new culture. The only downside is that it is such a long way away.
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