The Queenstown teenager Reuben Thompson has won the third stage of the Tour of Southland dominating the Remarkables hill climb to also claim the overall tour lead.
The 19-year-old left the peloton in his wake on the 6km climb up the Remarkables ski field access road at the end of a 109km stage from Mossburn, taking a 23sec into tomorrow's iconic fourth stage from Invercargill to Bluff.
Thompson, who only completed quarantine a day before this year's tour after competing in Europe, heading Ollie Jones of Christchurch, with defending champion Michael Vink in third place.
"I know every part of this road like the back of my hand and it worked out well. I had a plan to attack over the last steep bit to pull out an advantage and that last kilometre was pretty tough," Thompson said.
Reuben Thompson wins the third stage of the Tour of Southland and takes the overall tour lead. Photo: James Stubb/Stubb Studio
Thompson recently signed with UCI World Tour team Groupama-FDJ Continental, his Southland tour preparation consisting of sitting on a trainer in his Auckland hotel room while he sat out a two-week isolation period.
Winning in his own backyard in front of friends and family, was a great result for the talented former triathlete.
"It's super special. I've been training on this road ever since I can remember. This tour used to pass my primary school when I was a kid and they gave me a jersey one year and that's kind of what got me into cycling. To come back and race this tour and win a stage is super special."
Thompson has a 23 second overall lead while Aaron Gate, who started the stage in the tour leaders yellow jersey, struggled in the latter part of the climb to drop to sixth place overall, 55 seconds in arrears.
Tomorrow's fourth stage features another hilltop finish, this time at the end of a 157km journey atop Bluff Hill.
The seven stage tour finishes in Invercargill on Saturday.
