Jay McCarthy will wear the yellow jersey in tomorrow's final stage of the New Zealand Cycle Classic in the Manawatu but it won't feel all that comfortable considering the young Australian rider holds a narrow lead of only three seconds over compatriot Darren Lapthorne.
McCarthy (Jayco-AIS) finished second in abunch sprint behind Thomas Palmer (Drapac) in today's 110km fourth stage that finished at Memorial Park in Palmerston North and the time bonus he picked up saw him leapfrog Lapthorne (Drapac). Taupo's Patrick Bevin (Hudson Gavin Martin) was third in the sprint.
"I've got a bit of a sprint on me, but sometimes in those big bunch kicks you can get a bit lost," McCarthy said. "Today everything went to plan, though. I followed the right wheels and it ended second ,which gave me the time bonus I needed, so it was awesome."
McCarthy's three-second lead will come under considerable pressure in tomorrow's final stage, which comprises a 111km circuit around the outskirts of Palmerston North. It's set to be a showdown between the two Australian teams of Jayco-AIS and Drapac, especially as Campbell Flakemore (Genesys Wealth Advisors) in third is one minute 15 seconds behind McCarthy.
There was plenty of aggressive riding in today's stage, not least of all from world omnium silver medallist Shane Archbold, riding for the BikeNZ team who entered a number of their Olympic track hopefuls as part of their buildup to London.
Archbold was part of the late breakaway group but slipped off the pace towards the end. His move came on the back of teammate Sam Bewley's win in yesterday's stage and showed it's been a worthwhile exercise for the BikeNZ team.
"It was a nice course for us track riders, so we tried to get in a breakaway all day," Archbold said. "I was in the break for the last few kilometres with two Australians. The Jayco-AIS rider decided to sit on so his teammate could get the time bonus and it then became quite hard with just two of us working so I decided to sit-up."
Subway's Nick Lovegrove, who was second behind Bewley yesterday, finished in the main bunch today to claim the tour sprint jersey.
