Day Six, Stage 11: Tokoroa – Hamilton – 95km
By Mat Fletcher
Today there is only a single stage of 95km which is different for a change. It follows Old Taupo road from Tokoroa and crosses the Arapuni dam, then follows lake Karapiro through to Hamilton. I was talking to Lee Johnstone last night and he was sitting about 30 secs in second place in overall GC. The general classification has been held all week by one of the young guys and Lee is in 40 – 49 category and is an animal on the bike. He and a few of his mates were going to smash it out of the blocks, so that is what happened from the start. The kids missed the break and 2 of them were forced to chase. None of us offered any assistance because the kids had been dealing to us in the mountains all week and now we were back to the flat / undulating lands. The 2 young guys put in a good effort for the first 40km and then cracked. We had a good strong cross wind today which was taking its toll, so I kindly got on the front and feed it a bit for good measure and to string the bunch out which was about 70 riders. The other ploy was to ensure that I was on the front or near the front coming into Hamilton because there were several right and left hand turns to be made at intersections. Out of each corner I punched it hard and we wilted the lead group down to 20 riders. The ride into the finish was mainly downhill and twisting and winding. We had the pace wound right up – hard to the guard in animal gear. Lee and another guy Mike Henton stayed away for the entire stage and took the yellow jersey from the kids and they came in +5.23 ahead of the field. John and I crossed the line with the other guys in the lead group with a ST (same time) finish. We both picked up some more spots on GC today. I think that tomorrow will be brutal because the morning stage is brutal and hilly and the young guys will be battling Lee and Mike for the yellow jersey again.
Stage 11 results
Mat: +5.23 24th place. 33rd in overall GC. +44.04
John: +5.23 19th place. 27th in overall GC. +32.26