United States rider Travis McCabe has claimed the Tour leader's yellow jersey after finishing third on today's second stage of the Tour of Southland.
American cyclist Travis McCabe. Photo: James Jubb
A third place finish on today's second stage has seen the Kia Motors-Ascot Park Hotel rider jump to the top of the standings after he lost the yellow jersey on appeal following the team time trial on Sunday.
Stage honours after the 170km beat from Invercargill to Lumsden went to Australian rider Ayden Toovey from Tineli Performance Bikewear, with Southland's Matt Zenovich (PowerNet) second.
McCabe was initially set to wear yellow for the opening stage before an appeal saw him lose the jersey to Olympian Regan Gough, but there was no denying him today.
McCabe's Kia Motors-Ascot Park Hotel team will now look to position themselves for the challenges that lie ahead.
"We'll see how the weather is, hopefully it holds up. We will take it day by day," McCabe said.
"We will approach each day as a one-day race. Fortunately, we have Taylor Gunman in (contention), he's our GC guy for the week so we'll be riding for him and trying to keep it all together."
McCabe leads the tour by 4sec from Toovey, who is the race's leading under 23 rider.
Southlander Kergozou leads the sprint standings, with Jones leading the King of the Mountains classification.
Kia Motors-Ascot Park Hotel leads the team classification, with Paul Gough leading the silver jersey classification for riders 35 years and over.
Tomorrow's second stage is a 150km stage from Riverton to Te Anau which includes the imposing Blackmount hill climb.
The 2016 SBS Bank Tour of Southland is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year and finishes in Invercargill on November 5.
-RNZ
