The tour leader’s jersey swapped from one local to another after stage two of the rescheduled 2025 SBS Bank Tour of Southland today.

Tom Sexton (iBuilt) won the bunch sprint finish in Gore after a 151km stage from Invercargill in flawless summer conditions, assuming the overall lead from fellow Southlander and New Zealand men’s endurance track squad teammate Marshall Erwood.

Tom Sexton (iBuilt) won the bunch sprint finish in Gore. Photo: Supplied

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It marked an impressive start to this year’s race for the young iBuilt team which produced an outstanding third in the prologue before Sexton finished fifth in the street race on Sunday.

“I knew I was going to have a crack on this stage and try to have an attack on Broughton St, but I couldn’t get away. I managed to get away from some of the really fast sprinters and then into a really technical finish which helped me out quite a bit,” Sexton said.

“To pull off the win is really good. The boys rode well all day, we were assertive at the front of the bunch and we were ready to go all day. It didn’t kick off like a normal Southland day because of the weather at this time of the year.”

Sexton paid credit to team sponsor Bill Blackmore, who is a strong supporter of cycling in New Zealand.

“It’s really cool to wear his brand, he runs a tour just out of Auckland for juniors and is really passionate about the development of junior cyclists in New Zealand. It’s really cool to be able to ride for him.”

Riders take in the 151km second stage from Invercargill to Gore. Photo: Supplied

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The devastating winds which hit Southland and forced the postponement of the race were just a memory as the peloton made its way through central Southland, past stands of fallen macrocarpa and pine left over from October 23, with barely a breeze to trouble them.

James Gardner (Creation Signs-MitoQ-NZ Cycling Project) looked to have shaken off a nasty crash in Saturday’s national criterium championship to lead a breakaway which included the ageless Glenn Haden (Couplands-Cycling Tom Cycling Team), James Harvey (Latitude Cycling Team) and Josh Grieve (Central Benchmakers-Willbike).

Gardner went about gobbling up sprint points like Pacman, while Haden took the bulk of the King of the Mountain points as the breakaway extended their lead to as much as 3min at one point.

Gardner would end the day with the lead in the under 23 and Sprint Ace classifications, while Haden was presented with the King of the Mountain, Most Combative and Over 35 (Silver) jerseys.

Haden, who recently broke the New Zealand hour record and the world record for an over 40s rider, has had plenty of success in Southland in the silver jersey and in the individual time trial, despite first coming to Southland as a 35-year-old rider.

Riders take in the 151km second stage from Invercargill to Gore. Photo: Supplied

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Following careers in motocross and downhill mountainbiking, the latter of which took him around the world, the Whangaui rider almost fell into road cycling by accident.

“I believe this is my seventh tour, so I’m starting to rack them up. I’m not sure how many I’ve got in the legs but as long as I can be of some use I’m keen to keep coming down,” Haden said.

“It gives me something to keep me accountable during the year and to work towards during winter. It’s pretty special to do this. We just get so well looked after by the team and the atmosphere is great, there’s familiar faces to catch up with, there’s something really unique about this race.”

Tour of Southland cyclists. Photo: Supplied

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Creation Signs-MitoQ-NZ Cycling Project leads the teams classification ahead of stage three and a 158km ride from Riverton along the southern coast and over the Blackmount Hill to Te Anau.

Sexton, who won the stage into Te Anau last year, shares the overall time in the general classification with Gardner, with defending champion Josh Burnett (PowerNet) in ninth place overall, trailing by 11sec.