Novice rider Reta Trotman is 27 seconds behind the leader after an aggressive ride in the penultimate stage of the women's tour of New Zealand in Palmerston North today.
Aucklander Emma Crum crossed the line first in a sprint from breakaway companion Amy Bradley, in the pivotal fourth stage which saw the overall lead change hands. Current tour leader Kristin Armstrong relinquished her lead to United States national teammate Evelyn Stevens after a breakaway put eight minutes in the peloton.
Trotman is the best placed Kiwi on the general classification, 27 seconds back in fifth place, after making the tour-defining breakaway.
"The field were all together at the bottom of the queen of the mountain climb. Because we were trying to get Kaytee [Boyd] up for the queen of the mountain points, I rode up with front riders. I was sixth wheel at the top of the hill, and then a bunch of us got away from the peloton on the descent," she said.
Trotman, a former New Zealand representative gymnast, only entered the elite cycling ranks late last year.
"I'm so new to cycling so I wasn't quite sure who the international riders were, so my mind was going crazy trying to work out who they were and where they were on general classification. I knew I could ride hard in this break because we were protecting anyone on the general classification."
Crum and Bradley attacked with 50km to go, but Trotman was the only one working to reel them in.
"I tried to chase the two down, I had a couple of goes at it, but no one came with me."
Crum crossed the line 22 seconds ahead of the chasing group, with the peloton a further seven-and-a-half minutes behind.
With Shara Gillow only five seconds down on leader Stevens, tomorrow's (Sun) final 119km stage around the outskirts of Palmerston North promises to the see tour fought right to the line. Trotman has an outside shot at overall victory, something she couldn't have imagined at the start of the week.
"At the beginning of the tour my only goal was to do what I was asked to do by the team and make sure that I was pulling my weight. It's been a pretty incredible week.
"This whole tour has been about learning for me. I have learnt a lot, especially about team tactics and how to race aggressively. I will definitely race a lot differently from now on."
BikeNZ national teammate Kaytee Boyd retains the lead in the queen of the mountains classification. Boyd did not win any of points in today's stage, but the margin she established over the previous stages meant that she has enough to retain the lead heading into the final stage.