Southland's iconic cycle race, The Tour of Southland, has been postponed in the wake of last week’s unprecedented storm.

Cycling Southland said with resources across Southland being prioritised as part of the ongoing State of Emergency, particularly traffic management services, organisers had made the difficult decision to postpone the race until November 2nd to 8th.

Cycling Southland president Julian Ineson said the organisation had been liaising with, and taken advise from, a range of stakeholders, including sponsors, funders, local councils and PowerNet.

“This has been a really tough call to make, but we believe it’s the right one given the severity of the damage across Southland and the fluid nature of the clean up,” he said.

“These are exceptional circumstances, but we know how hard Southlanders are doing it at the moment and getting services restored has to be the priority."

"We will regroup and look at what’s required to find an alternative date for the event.”

Organisers had looked at a range of options to see if the race could be run under the current conditions, but had prioritised the needs of the wider community and the safety of riders, Ineson said.

Tour Director Waine Harding said while a tremendous amount of work had gone into preparing for this year’s race, there was a greater call on resources at the moment.

“There are a lot of moving parts to the event and we will let everyone know as soon as we can regarding future information about the race.”

SBS Bank chief executive Mark McLean said while it was disappointing not to go ahead as scheduled, as principal sponsor they understood and supported the decision, and that the priority needed to be the wellbeing of Southland communities at this time.