Source: Radio New Zealand
Southlander Josh Burnett was originally set to miss out on Tour of Southland due to injury, but the event was rescheduled from November last year due to a storm. supplied
Southland’s Josh Burnett has become just the sixth rider to win three or more Tour of Southland titles, joining an elusive club that includes Brian Fowler and Hayden Roulston.
Burnett (team PowerNet), who rides for a professional team in Spain, started the day with a 19 second lead over Cambridge’s Matthew Wilson (Advanced Personnel Cycling Team). However an outstanding individual time trial by Wilson in the morning saw him take the stage victory and cut the lead to just 10sec heading into the final 77km stage, from Winton to Invercargill.
The fast and furious final stage was lashed by wind and rain throughout, with Wilson making a bold attack on the penultimate lap of the tour’s Waikiwi circuit finish before the two frontrunners finished safely in the bunch to repeat the one-two finish they recorded in 2024.
Burnett’s name now joins the likes of Warwick Dalton, Tino Tabak, Fowler, Roulston and Michael Vink as riders who have won New Zealand’s most prestigious stage race three or more times.
It almost didn’t happen, with Burnett originally ruled out of the November event by a badly broken arm and only coming back into the equation when an extreme weather event meant the 2025 edition was postponed until January.
“I was just planning on helping the Mito-Q boys out and cleaning their bikes. To get this opportunity, I’m super grateful to PowerNet, it’s such a well-run team. Both on and off the bike we’ve had such a good time this week. It’s a massive credit to Aaron (Sinclair) who has put this team together for the past few years. All I’ve had to think about is riding my bike,” Burnett said.
To get the chance to return from riding for his Spanish professional team, Burgos Burpellet BH, and win his home race was something special, Burnett said.
“It definitely hasn’t sunk in. I was just taking it day by day and I’m just really proud to be from this region,” he said.
“There’s no other bike race in the world where I get this amount of support so I’ve got to lap it up where I can. In Spain I can’t even read the signs, so when I’m here I make the most of it.”
Burnett, who also won the King of the Mountain classification, paid credit to his team mates, who were challenged throughout the week, particularly after losing team captain Ollie Jones to a crash on Tuesday.
“For sure there were some expectations on my shoulders all week, but I think it was mainly transferred onto my team mates, making them ride the front for three days, so a big shout out to those boys, because without them I wouldn’t have had the chance to contest the stages or be in contention.”
Burnett highlighted the battle he had with Wilson for the second Southland tour in a row. The pair sparred throughout the week, especially with one-two finishes on both the Remarkables and Bluff Hill finishes. Daniel Whitehouse (Quality Food Southland/Gough Brothers) was third overall at 1min 38sec.
“Massive credit to Matt because he is super strong and I’m sure he’s going to win a Southland one day, that’s for sure.”
Riders taking part in the Tour of Southland earlier this week. supplied
The final stage was won by Southland’s Nick Kergozou, the second time he has won the finale. Kergozou (Open Country-TES) said he was proud to win the stage and claim his fourth Sprint Ace title in his ninth Southland tour.
“I’m ecstatic with that. Matt Wilson was putting it in the gutter pretty hard. He was throwing it all out there and I knew I just had to follow to keep the sprint jersey alive.”
Timaru’s Noah Hollamby (Onya Bike) completed an outstanding debut Tour of Southland, winning the under 23 jersey and finishing fourth overall. Australian Ben Dyball (Macaulay Ford-Good Tech Team) was the leading over 35 rider, and fifth overall.
Macaulay Ford-Good Tech Team won the teams classification, while Christchurch’s James Krzanich (Lattitude Cycling Team) was named the Most Combative rider for the final stage and the tour overall.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
