Dan’s first lap of the south

Taking time off work is never an easy topic to bring up with the boss. For the Tour of Southland however, a different set of rules apply. Jianni stocked me up with Clif gels, wet weather Castelli gear and sent me on my way. The mission? To return to VBike with a lap of Southland in the legs and hopefully a trip or two to the podium.

We arrived in Invercargill to sideways rain and cold temperatures. I built my bike up and took the opportunity to go and check out one of the stage finishes at Bluff hill, New Zealand's southernmost tip. After painstakingly polishing every bike component prior to the race, my bike was now caked in grime. My teammates (Quality Foods Southland) turned up later and were quick to comment on the state of my poor Cervelo.

Race day arrived and I rolled into Queen’s park with a re-cleaned bike and heaps of excitement. My teammates and I had never raced together, so we were chuffed to start the tour with a 4th place in the team time trial. 

Monday’s stage wreaked havoc in the peloton. Nerves were high and everyone was feeling strong. This caused a mass pile up that shattered the hopes of many, including one of my teammates. Bad luck struck me next as I punctured twice going through a gravel sector. I ended up losing 9 minutes and all hopes of a good GC result. All was forgotten though when I was told my teammate Boris Clark finished 3rd on the stage and moved into the yellow jersey.

Next up we rallied together as a team to support Boris. We controlled the peloton on stage 3 to Te Anau which ended in a sprint. The following day up the Remarkables climb in Queenstown Boris slipped down to 5th, but our young gun Lucas Murphy rode amazingly to 2nd on the stage. With three of us in the top 10 on that stage, we moved comfortably into leading the team classification. 

After an 8th and 7th place, I was feeling confident going into the infamous Bluff stage. That, added with some frustration from Monday’s punctures proved the perfect recipe. I attacked early and rode away from the break-away to win the stage. Luckily I’d checked out the hill before the race because the 22% gradient on the final corner would’ve been a shock otherwise!

The remaining 3 stages were all about holding onto our team classification and my teammates' top 10 positions on GC. Unfortunately things came unstuck on the final day for us; myself and Lucas went off course during the time trial and we got caught out in the wind on the final stage. This was a big blow because we came so close. Bike racing is humbling. Just as you start to believe you’re in control, crosswinds strike and you can lose it all. I was proud of how everyone handled this disappointment and didn’t let it drown the feats we had accomplished earlier in the week. 

Overall, it was a fantastic week away. The sponsors of our team were amazing; we all felt at home instantly. Arriving back in Auckland, I can’t help but feel like there is unfinished business. I’ll enjoy the fond memories but am already hungry to return next year and get reacquainted with the winds and climbs of the deep south.