Triathlon: Adam wins Tour De Vineyards

Teresa Adam. Photo / APN

Promising triathlon prospect Teresa Adam won the Tour de Vineyards in Nelson today as she held onto her lead earned with some aggressive and clever riding earlier in the week.

The 21-year-old finished comfortably in the bunch today to leave European-based professional Serena Sheridan second overall.

Adam has already shown huge promise in triathlon but, along with a number of others from the Triathlon NZ high performance programme, was using the tour as training and an opportunity to learn further cycling skills.

Tri NZ national coach Greg Fraine wasn't surprised by Adam's success.

"We know how good she is on the bike and what her potential is," he said. "We get the numbers back from her training and racing all year and knew she was capable of a great result.

"She has dominated the tour and cruised through the final stage today, staying out of trouble. She has raised the interest of a few people in Bike NZ but, gladly for us, Teresa is committed to triathlon."

Debbie Tanner also enjoying a good tour, finishing seventh overall and got out of her sick bed this morning to finish the event.

"Debbie was crook this morning but was gutsy in her ride today," Fraine said. "She is now a little worse again and will be back to bed, I think, but she rode strongly despite that today. But clearly did not have the legs to push hard.

"Debbie is so intuitive on the bike and knows how to look after herself. In triathlons you might not see her for most of the bike and suddenly she pops up in transition near the lead."

Fellow triathletes Rebecca Kingsford, Sam Osborne, James Elvery, Edward Rawles, Aaron Barclay and Lachlan Davey also competed in the Tour de Vineyards.