Miller holds advantage in cycle race

Press, 31 October 1984, Page 68

Miller holds advantage in cycle race

PA Hamilton Graeme Miller still holds a slender lead in the Dulux Auckland to Wellington cycle race after day three of the seven-day event.

He heads Jack Swart (Hamilton) by 15 seconds with eight others within a minute of the lead. Swart had to recover from a crash about five km from the afternoon stage finish in Otorohanga to hold second place over all. Bruce Storrie, of Hamilton, hit a rock and fell with Swart, Trevor Rice (Wellington) and Japan’s Keito Seine crashing over him. Rice and Swart were quickly back on their bikes and, with the help of the eventual stage winner, Peter Whitehead, caught the leaders coming into Otorohanga. Whitehead shot away about 800 metres out and narrowly held off the rapidly closing bunch led by the Australian, Steve Fairless, Paul Leitch (Auckland), Greg Fraine (Nelson) and Swart.

The tour leader, Miller, picked up a few seconds in the short criterium at Te Awamutu but was not placed in the morning stage from Tokoroa to Te Awamutu, or in the short ride from there to Otorohanga. Fairless had a good day, picking up 33 seconds on Miller. He rode away with the West German, Jan Traub, in the criterium and was second in the stage to Otorohanga to move from thirteenth to seventh over all. For the 23-year-old Whitehead, the stage win was a form reversal. He had been unhappy with the way he was going in the tour and was second last over all, more than 25 minutes down. This is his second Dulux tour and the win was his second in tours this year. Results:—

Stage four (Tokoroa to Te Awamutu, 100 km): E. O’Brien (Auckland) 2hr 23min 48s, 1; D. Barnett (Wellington) 2, A. Whitford (Waikato) 3, B. Stockwell (Canterbury) 4, R. Mellsop (Te Awamutu) 5. Stage five (Te Awamutu to Otorohanga, 28km): P. Whitehead, 42min 295, 1; S. Fairless (Australia) 2, P. Leitch (Auckland) 3,. G. Fraine (Nelson) 4, J. Swart (Waikato) 5, W. Morgan (Wellington) 6, P. Cox (New Plymouth) 7, T. Sato (Japan) 8, G. Miller (Auckland) 9, N. Dahlberg (Palmerston North) 10. Over all: Miller, lOhr 28min 565, 1; Swart, at 15s, 2; Stockwell, at 225, 3; Whitford, at 235, 4; Barnett, at 31s, 5; Fraine, at 345, 6; Fairless, at 48s, 7; G. Heine (West Germany), at 565, 8; G. Skaines (Australia), at 58s, 9; R. McKorkill (Australia), at Imin 6s, 10.