The Tour of Southland is heading for a nail-biting finish after a long stage five today.
The 170km leg took riders through small townships today – so small, in fact, that at times the peloton doubled the population.
Although with the speeds cyclists were able to hit today, that statistic was only fleeting.
The straight stretch of the stage allowed riders to advance and attack throughout the afternoon with the lead pack racing 30 minutes ahead of time with 30km to go.
With such a blistering pace, it was only fitting the leg finished in sprint to the line and Campbell Stewart was the first man home by the narrowest of margins.
However, the juniors still held their own, with six under-23 finishers in the top 12 including Corbin Strong, who'll keep the yellow jersey heading into the final day.
“I think we had the answers for all the hard questions asked today,” Strong said.
“Man, I’m looking forward to tomorrow!”
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