After Linda Villumsen and Scott Molina made moves in the morning Individual Time Trial, Sunday afternoon's stage from Te Anau to Five Rivers saw three yellow jerseys change hands on what may well be a defining stage on the 2013 Vital Signs Tour de Lakes.
Alex McGregor started the stage 28 seconds down on leader Luke MacPherson, but after getting himself in an early break, he ended the day with a 1 minute 50 buffer on second-placed MacPherson. Thomas Hubbard took the stage win over Matt Zenovich with the pair moving in to fifth and sixth respectively while Sam Friend's fourth place has pushed him right into contention for a podium finish in third overall, 1:56 down on Tour leader McGregor.
B grade remains a close affair with a nine man bunch sharing the same time at the Stage 4 finish. Lee Johnstone took the stage win ahead of Mike White and with race leader Glenn Gould being gapped at the finish to finish 23 seconds down of the front bunch, White moved into yellow with a 6 second margin on Gould with Johnstone a further 12 seconds back in third.
Jordan Gilmore added yet another stage victory in C grade, claiming the sprint finish in front of Dave Lawson and Andrew Lienert. Scott Molina rolled across right behind the leading bunch and will take a 15 second buffer into the final day over Lienert and 21 seconds in front of Lawson.
The major change came in the Women's grade where Lauren Ellis, Laura Fairweather, Linda Villumsen and Hayley Mercer got away and took over 3 minutes out of the rest of the field. After smashing the field in the morning time trial, followed by spending the afternoon in the break, Villumsen now has a 2'34" lead overall ahead of Mercer, Fairweather (@ 2'40") and last night's leader gabby Vermunt (@ 3'00")
The 2013 Tour concludes with a morning 50 kilometre stage from Fern Hill to Glenorchy, followed by the hill top finish from Glenorchy to Moke Lake in the afternoon.
For more information and full results click here.
| A GRADE | B GRADE | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alex McGregor | 6hr03'12" | 1 | Michael White | 6hr25'17" |
| 2 | Luke MacPherson | @ 1'50" | 2 | Glenn Gould | @ 06" |
| 3 | Sam Friend | @ 1'56" | 3 | Lee Johnstone | @ 18" |
| 4 | Tim Rush | @ 2'48" | 4 | Geoff Keogh | @ 1'02" |
| 5 | Thomas Hubbard | @ 2'55" | 5 | Fraser Hewett | @ 2'18" |
| C GRADE | WOMEN'S GRADE | ||||
| 1 | Scott Molina | 5hr56'51" | 1 | Linda Villumsen | 6hr07'48" |
| 2 | Andrew Lienert | @ 15" | 2 | Hayley Mercer | @ 2'34" |
| 3 | Dave Lawson | @ 21" | 3 | Laura Fairweather | @ 2'40" |
| 4 | Harrison Steedman | @ 29" | 4 | Gabrielle Vermunt | @ 3'00" |
| 5 | Jordan Gilmore | @ 48" | 5 | Elyse Fraser | @ 5'38 |