Controversial Australian rider Ben Hill has retained the yellow jersey but Fraser Gough claimed the stage win on day four of the Tour of Southland yesterday.
The Napier rider was part of a group of five competitors who just managed to hold off the chasing peloton on the 150km stage from Riverton to Te Anau.
Good conditions greeted the riders and for the first hour there was a stalemate, with a series of attempts to break away proving fruitless.
After about 60km Luke Macpherson (H&J Smiths Outdoor World) launched an attack with Thomas Stewart (Team Cromwell) and Gough.
Stewart was keen to consolidate his lead in the king of the mountains jersey and headed Macpherson over the top of the Blackmount Hill climb with a lead of 2min on the peloton.
The peloton itself split on the climb.
A 24-strong group of chasers, including Hill, began working to catch the leaders.
Macpherson and Gough led towards Manapouri before the other break riders began to work again and caught Macpherson and Gough.
The chasing group and the main peloton got together in the last 10km but had left their chase too late.
Gough kicked away in the last 500m to take the stage win on the Te Anau waterfront.
Hill led the peloton across the line and leads the general classification with a 28sec buffer over the second-placed Hayden McCormick (Breads of Europe-All About Plumbing).
Hill (24) has only recently resumed racing after serving a two-year ban following a positive drug test.
Dunedin's Justin Stott (Placemakers) holds on to the silver jersey for the over 40s, while Mosgiel rider Jacob Grieve (Pure South) leads the sprint ace category.
McCormick remains in the under-23 jersey and Avanti Racing Team leads the team classification.
Macpherson's efforts saw him take the jersey for the most combative rider for the second time.
