Reward for WIlson as he climbs into SBS Bank Tour of Southland orange jersey

4/11/2026 - Cambridge’s Matthew Wilson has made a major statement on the Queen Stage of the 2026 SBS Bank Tour of Southland.

The 25-year-old professional gravel bike and mountainbiker produced a commanding performance on the 108km stage from Mossburn to the Remarkables to win the stage by more than 1min and force his way into the general classification’s orange jersey.

Wilson, you could argue, is due.

The Advanced Personnel rider has twice finished runner-up to Josh Burnett in this tour, last year by less than a dozen seconds.

He shadowed Burnett to the end of the gruelling 6km climb up the Remarkables access road in January’s rescheduled event but made no race of this stage, with ageless former grand tour and leading over 35 rider Ben Dyball (Macaulay Ford-GoodTech) second and Finnegan Murphy (Latitude) third.

Having worked hard for scant reward for the past two Southland tours, Wilson was pleased to have orange on his shoulders for the first time.

“It feels great. The team has been coming down here for a number of years and the goal has always been to win the tour so we are right where we need to be,” he said.