Cycle field settles after first-day crashes

RIDER DOWN: Competitors and officials tend to a rider who crashed after hitting a pothole on the outskirts of Dargaville during stage one of the BDO Tour of Northland.PHOTO/JOHN STONE

Day two of the BDO Tour of Northland remained crash-free as competitors embarked from a picture-perfect Opononi yesterday.

The same couldn't be said for the opening day of the event, which saw several riders go down in heavy crashes.

Tour of Northland event manager Stephen Cox was happy with the success of the second day's stage.

"All went pretty good, everybody managed to stay upright today," Cox said.

This was a contrast to day one which saw one competitor admitted to Whangarei Hospital after he hit a minor pothole on the outskirts of Dargaville.

"He's in Whangarei Hospital and may have broken vertebrae but we're reluctant to release his name until we know more. Initial thoughts were it wasn't looking too good," Cox said.

Luckily day two delivered a better outcome for competitors.

A misty Dargaville morning greeted riders, with Commonwealth Games mountain biking medallist Sam Gaze taking first place.

He was followed closely by Joshua Alridge.

Former Northlander Ben Johnston remains the overall leader heading into stage three today, which will see riders head east from Opononi to Paihia on the 83km Coast to Coast Flyer route.