A change in plans could not stop Alexandra rider James Williamson and his partner, Scott Lyttle, taking a sizeable lead after three days of the Pioneer mountain bike race.
The day dawned wet, cold and windy yesterday in Fairlie, forcing Pioneer organisers into plan B mode, with the 80km stage to Lake Tekapo altered to avoid the first climb out of Fairlie and over the Albury Range.
Riders battled the wind as they crested Burkes Pass and rode down into Tekapo, but by then the sun was out and the temperatures were warming as the rain jackets and thermals were tucked away for the ride home.
The race started in Christchurch on Sunday and ends in Queenstown on Saturday, with much of the biking over the Southern Alps.
Williamson and Lyttle rode away from their main contenders, putting valuable time on the team of Ibon Zugasi and Tommi Misser and the Oamaru team of Tim and Kris Rush.
Williamson agreed 100% with the decision of the event organisers, one that resulted in a safer but still tough ride.
''That was definitely the right decision today, no question. It wasn't nice at all this morning and there could have been people in trouble if we went up the first climb in that weather,'' he said.
''It didn't make it any easier though. You just had to ride harder for a shorter period of time. There was probably still 1500m of climbing in that ride anyway, so that was a solid day out.''
The Rush brothers split too much and it cost them, losing a further five minutes crossing the line.
Riders are required - primarily for safety reasons - to stay within two minutes of each other throughout and at one point the Rush brothers were separated by almost five minutes and as a result incurred a five-minute penalty.
In the open women's category, team Nina McVicar and Reta Trotman made it three stage wins from three, extending the lead on general classification to more than 25 minutes, with nearest rivals Erin Greene and Ingrid Richter hampered by a fall and knee injury to Richter.
In the open mixed category, Mark Williams and Kate Fluker, of Queenstown, stamped their class on the event that they won so impressively last year, winning the stage by over 15 minutes after a good climb over Burkes Pass.
