Cycling: Ulmer has tour lead

Sarah Ulmer emerged from a chaotic criterium to snatch the leader's yellow jersey after stage one of the three-day, 186km women's cycling Tour of New Zealand in Lower Hutt yesterday.

Making it a day of double joy for the three New Zealand teams battling riders from 18 countries in the 124-strong field was Nelson's Dale Tye who took hold of the sprint leader's jersey with a polished performance.

Olympic pursuit champion Ulmer won the 45km criterium in 1h 10m 18.92s.

Swiss rider Priska Doppmann was second 0.34s behind with German Trixi Worrack third at 2.68s.

Ulmer and Tye were among a bunch of eight who broke away on the fourth lap and built a lead of over 25s on the peloton.

The race was stopped when the eight leaders were unable to re-form because of the many lapped riders on the circuit. This effectively turned it into a three-lap sprint in which Ulmer proved strongest.

- NZPA