Peiper the victor in Tour of the South

Press, 16 November 1981, Page 21

Peiper the victor in Tour of the South

By

RAY CAIRNS

Alan Peiper will take pleasant memories of cycling in New Zealand back to Melbourne. The Healing-3ZM Tour of the South finished before a big crowd in Latimer Square yesterday and it was Peiper who had both arms raised in a victory salute.

Peiper, aged 21, thus completed a double in the two big tours in New Zealand cycling: a week ago, he won the Dulux tour. But, as is often the case, Peiper had only to ride defensively yesterday on the two stages from Hanmer Springs to Cheviot, and then on to Christchurch. He effectively won the tour on Saturday when the then-leader, Clyde Sefton, punctured twice in the Poplars Fan area, midway between Reefton and Hanmer, and lost all chance. Peiper’s closest challengers were one of the established hard men of the sport, Steve Cox (Hamilton), and the swiftly-rising 19-year-old from Canterbury, Brian Fowler. Cox was 10 seconds behind Peiper, Fowler at 16 seconds, and then there was a big drop to Sefton, Roger Sumich (Auckland) and Blair Stockwell (Canterbury). But Sefton and Stockwell

still made the last day memorable when they broke away just after the Kainga town sprint, the last of the tour. Sefton, who spent much of the tour chasing Stockwell’s attacking efforts, beat the local man to the line at the Latimer Motor Lodge for the $3OO first prize, while Mark Bell, the British champion, and Wilbert Messman (Netherlands) also slipped the field in the final kilometre or two. But all the action really happened on Saturday, when Sefton and Stockwell both punctured twice. When they had their first wheel changes, Jack Swart (Morrinsville) stormed out of the shingle with Cox, Fowler, Peiper, Sumich and Bell in close attendance. With Cox and Fowler providing the greatest support, Swart took the little group clear at speeds of up to 65 km/h along the flat and Stockwell and Sefton had to wave goodbye their winning

chances. Sumich. not a winning threat after a bad first day, jumped clear with a kilometre to ride to win the stage sponsored by the cycle business of the unfortunate stage, and Peiper’s powerful second placing on the uphill finish gave him the leadership. Any risk of Cox, particularly, or Fowler hauling back their deficits with time bonuses quickly went out the window yesterday. Eric O’Brien (Auckland) and Brian Boswell (Melbourne) rode out the front for 60 km in the Laurie Daw Cycles stage from Hanmer to Cheviot and finished 2% min clear. Then Sefton and Stockwell also took the major bonuses with them on their winning break in the final stage, sponsored by the Latimer Motor Lodge and W. H. Worrall and Company. Cox, so often a runner-up.

had one notable victory, however. He won the “King of the Alps” very handsomely from Sefton and Peiper, those two both scoring 83 points — 32 behind Cox — but Sefton taking the premier placing on a countback. There was no contest for the Carpet Market sprint ace, Bell securing the handsome tally of 67 points, to the 38 earned by the vari-ously-talented Sefton, Swart’s 27 and Stockwell’s 23. The last stage effort of the industrious Messman won him the Lancaster Park Hotel B grade section, after he had been locked with Greg Parke, a Sydney veteran. for the whole tour. Fowler, who was in a yellow jersey for the entire tour, was easily clear of O'Brien for the "top teenager” prize sponsored by Ray Knight Cycles. Fifteen riders finished the tour, most of the withdrawals suffering from the rigours of Porters Pass on the first day. Results.— Stage five, Blair Stockwell Cycles Reefton to Hanmer Springs 137 km.— R. Sumich 1, A. Peiper 2, B. Fowler 3 S. Cox 4. J. Swart 5, M. Bell 6, B. Stockwell 7, C. Sefton 8, G. Parke 9, E. O’Brien 10. time, 3:35:45. Stage six. Laurie Dawe Cycles Hanmer to Cheviot 92.5 km—- . 1, B. Boswell 2. Bell 3, Peiper 4, Sefton 5, Sumich 6, Cox 7, W. Howes 8, Stockwell 9, Fowler 10. Time, 2:20:32.

Stage seven, Latimer Motor Lodge—Worrall’s Cheviot to Christchurch, 114 km.— Sefton 1, Stockwell 2. Bell 3, W. Messman 4, Sumich 5, Fowler 6, Howes 7, Peiper 8, Swart 9. O'Brien 10. Time, 2:56:18. General classification.— Peiper, 21:7:20, 1; Cox, at 10s, 2; Fowler, at 16s, 3; Sefton, at 3:58, 4; Sumich, at 5:54, 5; Stockwell, at 7:46, 6; O’Brien, at 10:43, 7; Bell, at 12:17, 8; Messman, at 12:31, 9 and first B grade; Parke, at 13:36, 10 and second B grade; R. Nevatt, at 14:16, 11; Swart, at 19:22, 12; Boswell, at 40:46, 13; Howes, at 49:57, 14; J. Black, ’at 1:31:00, 15.

3ZM King of the Alps.—Cox, 115, 1; Sefton, 83, 2; Peiper, 83, 3; Stockwell, 65, 4; Fowler, 49, 5; O’Brien, 23, 6.

Carpet Market sprint ace.— Bell, 67, 1; Sefton, 38, 2; Swart 27, 3; Stockwell, 23, 4; Boswell, 17, 5.