Starting the day as the Tour of Southland's leader after an impressive third stage, 19-year-old Reuben Thompson wasn’t so worried about the 157km that laid ahead of him today – it was more about the top two inches and the clouds overhead.
“I’m a bit nervous,” Thompson told 1 NEWS before stage four.
“The wind is picking up and certainly a lot of teams are out to put me under pressure today.”
But soon after those thoughts were put to the side as Thompson and the rest of the field left the velodrome in Invercargill and headed out into tough conditions.
The rain really settled in before the first climbs came and went and while it might not have been hot on the course, riders still started feeling a burn 20km out as they were met by Bluff Hill - a 2.8km uphill grind.
Unfortunately for Thompson, the final obstacle of the stage was where another youngster, 20-year-old Corbin Strong, was able to make his move and snatched his second stage of the tour, along with the yellow jersey.
“We get pros coming here from all over the world to race Tour of Southland and they always leave talking about Bluff Hill,” Strong said reflecting on his run.
“To win up here is even more special when it’s got that reputation.”
Stage five is a 170km grind from Invercargill to Lumsden and with four under-23 cyclists featured inside the top 10, there could be more young talent pushing to make their own case for the yellow jersey tomorrow.
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