Riders face tough slog on Tour of Southland

The big crash on day one is still having major repercussions heading into stage seven of the Tour of Southland

6 November 2009
A thrilling final two days ahead on cycling's Tour of Southland.

With just three stages remaining, less than a minute separates the top four riders.

Nelson's Jack Bauer holds a 24 second advantage over Peter Latham after the Crown Range stage, with Latham's Bissell pro team-mate Jeremy Vennell another three seconds back.

Latham describes Bauer as in great form, and while he is inexperienced he is really strong and will be tough to dispatch.

Latham says the Tour is at a crucial juncture, but some teams are still feeling the effects from the stage two pile up.He says a lot of teams are down to four riders and some are still sore from the crash, so there is no one strong team.

With a number of teams looking to capitalise and move up the standings with none of the time gaps very big, the Tour is well poised.

Stage seven is a 163.6 kilometre slog from Winton to Te Anau, starting at 10 o'clock.

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