The opening team time trial prologue around Queens Park was a chance for teams to stretch their legs and test their combinations ahead of a hard week of racing on the Southland bitumen.
PowerNet, which won the tour with Brad Evans in 2015, led the 4.2km dart around the park and Cambridge's Alex Heaney will wear the yellow jersey for tomorrow's 170km opening stage from Invercargill to Lumsden.
``The plan is the same as everyone, to go out and win, to have fun and ride a good race,'' Heaney said.
WPC South-Joyride Apparel was second in the prologue and Placemakers rounded out the podium in third place. Defending champion James Piccoli's Kia Motors-Ascot Park Hotel was fifth, just under 10sec down.
PowerNet is predicted to be one of the teams most capable of challenging Kia Motors-Ascot Park Hotel, and Heaney said there was plenty to like about a stable which includes Commonwealth Games mountain biking gold medallist Sam Gaze.
``We are all even, we are all in the form of our lives. We've got a bit of everything - we've got a climber, we can go good in the sprints, we've got a good all round team.''
Wearing the tour leader's yellow jersey for the opening stage would be a special moment, Heaney said.
``It's real cool. It's something that I'm going to treasure for the rest of my life. It might be the first of many, it might be the last one, I don't know, so I'll just take it.''
Tomorrow's opening stage leaves the SIT Velodrome at 10am and traverses Thornbury, Otautau, Ohai and Nightcaps before travelling through Dipton and Castlerock, to finish in Lumsden about 2.40pm.
The 62nd SBS Bank Tour of Southland finishes in Invercargill on November 3.
