Swart snatches cycling lead

Press, 23 October 1978, Page 20

Swart snatches cycling lead

PA Palmerston North; The new format of the; Family Tavern Tour of the! Uanawatu cycling classic; tppears to have played into! the hands of the new national; toad champion, Jack Swart; Waikato). Swart, a rider of tremenflous potential in former fears, has produced the foods this year and capped Jff his pursuit silver medal It Edmonton with the New tealand road cycling title! recently.

So far this weekend he has iispelled doubts about his Sill-climbing power by staying and in fact dominating die likes of Stephen Cox and Gary Bell over some of the! tough hills in the Manawatu tour, and it was a performance like this that netted him the tour lead yesterday afternoon. Swart, a little lucky in the Horning when his chief tipponent, Paul Jesson (Can- 1 terbury), had wheel trouble

land lost Imin 34s of his Imin 38s lead, proved his tremenIdous fitness with firstly a (classic time-trial performance; I that left him 14s clear of (the field, and then a superb I effort in the long afternoon; stage, the equal longest of the tour, around the notori-; ous Pohangina Valley. Jesson, who had proved his mastery over Swart in the last stage on Saturday afternoon, took a great deal out of himself when chasing (desperately after his wheel trouble in the first stage yesterday, and a hard time-trial did not help either. Jesson has a handy lead in the King of the Mountains section with 91 points over Cox’s 83, and with only two hill climbs today he should take this section. Results:

Genera] classification: J. Swart i tWaikatq), 7hr 28min 20sec, 1; P. ‘ Jesson (Cant.), Nsec. 2; K. Black- : well (Hamilton), 34sec, 3; S. Cox, 54sec. 4; G. Bell (Waikato), Imin |2sec. 5: D. Bateman (Wgton), illlmin 50sec, 6.