Dunedin's Brad Evans survived a ''highly tactical'' day and remains in the yellow jersey with one day left in the Tour of Southland.
The 23-year-old Powernet rider is nursing a slim 14sec lead over Australian Robbie Hucker.
Former winner Mike Northey is in third place but trails Evans by 2min 51sec.
And with just the individual time trial and a short final stage from Winton to Invercargill remaining, Evans ought to be able to hold on to become just the third Dunedin-based rider to win the race.
''On paper, I should be faster than Robbie in the time trial, but anything can happen,'' Evans said.
''It is just going to come down to who has the best legs after a tough week.''
Evans featured during an early breakaway yesterday which did not include Hucker.
The group stayed in front until about the 40km mark, when the peloton reeled them in.
Had the break stuck, Evans would probably be assured of victory.
As it stands, he is still in a very strong position.
''There were a lot of tactical moves going on, so I was mainly focused on my rivals.
''Hucker attacked me right at the end with about 4km remaining and up a steep climb in Gore. But because he did a lot of work early on, I think he had stuffed himself and did not put me under too much pressure.
''Michael Vink attacked me the most. He probably put in a minimum of a dozen attacks and really strong attacks on hills.
''It was a highly tactical day.''
If Evans can hold off his rival for one more day, he will join Kelvin Hastie (1956) and Gordon McCauley (1996) as Otago winners.
''Ideally, I would have put some more time on Robbie, so I had more of a buffer for the final stage.''
The pair know each other, having been team-mates when Evans won the Tour of Tasmania last month.
The race splintered during the first half of the 150km stage from Invercargill to Gore.
When the early break withered, a subsequent breakaway by Joe Cooper, Matt Zenovich and Nick Bain proved decisive.
By Edendale, the trio had escaped the peloton by nearly a minute and would not be sighted again.
Cooper broke away to ensure a solo ride to the stage finish.
Zenovich finished second - his second podium of the week - and claimed the most combative award, while Bain finished third and reclaimed the under-23 jersey, which he lost to Alexandra's Liam Aitcheson on Coronet Peak on Thursday.
Mosgiel's Joe Chapman leads Fraser Gough by eight points in the sprint ace jersey but there are still plenty of points at stake.
Cooper's stage win has given him a comprehensive lead in the King of the Mountains classification, while Brent Allnut continues to build his lead in the silver jersey for riders 40 years and over.
Barry Stewart Builders holds a 15sec lead over Kia Motors-Ascot Park in the team classification.
