03/11/2010 - Auckland cyclist Mike Northey etched his name in the history books during the 2010 PowerNet Tour of Southland today as the first Pure Black Racing rider to record a stage victory.
While a commanding performance from Share the Road ensured Jeremy Yates retained the yellow jersey for a third day, it was Pure Black soaking up the limelight.
Attacking from just 400m out, Northey snatched stage five line honours from team-mate Glen Chadwick, of New Plymouth, in the 101km stage from Tuatapere to Winton.
“I’m glad I could get up there … I didn’t think I had the legs, I was a bit far back but the team gave me a real good pull up to the front,” Northey said.
“Someone told me `if in doubt, lead it out’ so I went early and hung on.”
It completed a memorable day for Northey, who finished second to pro tour rider Greg Henderson, of Calder Stewart-Bike NZ, in this morning’s highly-paced 88km stage from Invercargill to Tuatapere. 
Pure Black team-mate Roman van Uden strengthened his stranglehold on the sprint ace jersey despite mechanical failure enabling Clinton Avery to venture within striking distance during the morning stage.
Subway Avanti’s Joe Cooper dominated the only climb of the afternoon to retain the King of the Mountain status for a second day after losing it briefly to Southland Vehicle Sales rider George Bennett, of Nelson.
Overall it was the experienced Share the Road team which dictated proceedings once again.
“It was a perfect day for us,” Jason Allen, of Christchurch said. “We controlled it all morning like we had to and the break got brought back right on the line – perfect.
“Calder Stewart threw pretty much everything at us this afternoon to try and break us up because they knew we’d be tired, which we were … a couple of times they threw the whole team on the front in the crosswind but we managed to claw our way back into it and get on the front and do our job.”
It was a stage which sorted the men from the boys - the field quickly fragmented shortly after leaving Tuatapere with over 20 riders dropping off the pace.
Yates, who was struck by a flat tyre shortly after the peloton stormed through the seaside town of Riverton, was justifiably impressed with his team-mates.
“They rode damn near 95 percent of the stage on the front – it was an incredible effort and just further goes to show how strong our team is,” he said.
“The plan was for the boy’s to ride so fast that no one would want to attack … there’s going to be some broken bodies in the bunch tonight.”
Having won it four times in the past, including 2008 and 2009, Yates is eagerly anticipating tomorrow’s 133km stage from Lumsden to the top of the Crown Range, near Queenstown.
“I don’t think I’ll be given much freedom tomorrow so I might have to get out there and get on the aggressive.”
1. Greg Henderson (Calder Stewart-BikeNZ National) 2h06m19s; 2. Mike Northey (Pure Black Racing) ST; 3. James Williamson (Subway Avanti Pro Cycling) ST; 4. Tom Scully (PowerNet) ST; 5. Joseph Chapman (Creation Signs-Ultimo) ST; 6. Sean Joyce (Placemakers) ST; 7. Alexander Ray (Orca Velo Merino) ST; 8. Cody Stevenson (Jackson Plumbing-Plumbing World) ST; 9. Jack Bauer (Share the Road) ST; 10. Aaron Gate (Team Motatapu) ST; 11. Hayden Roulston (Calder Stewart-BikeNZ National) ST; 12. Cameron Karwowski (The Southland Times-H&J's Outdoor World) ST; 13. Jeremy Yates (Share the Road) ST; 14. James Northey (moxxchopper.com) ST; 15. Josh Atkins (Benchmark Homes) ST; 16. Marc Prutton (Sycamore Print) ST; 17. Shane Archbold (PowerNet) ST; 18. Matt Sillars (Placemakers) ST; 19. Sam Steele (Team Motatapu) ST; 20. Gordon McCauley (Share the Road) ST; 21. Mark Spessott (Placemakers) ST; 22. Alex Meenhorst (Team SVS) ST; 23. Kevin Strongman (Barry Stewart Builders) ST; 24. Paul Odlin (Calder Stewart-BikeNZ National) ST; 25. Chris Nicholson (PowerNet) ST;
1. Mike Northey (Pure Black Racing) 2h15m37s; 2. Clinton Avery (Ascot Park Hotel) ST; 3. Hayden Roulston (Calder Stewart-BikeNZ National) ST; 4. Jack Bauer (Share the Road) ST; 5. Cody Stevenson (Jackson Plumbing-Plumbing World) ST; 6. Alexander Ray (Orca Velo Merino) ST; 7. James Williamson (Subway Avanti Pro Cycling) ST; 8. Alex Meenhorst (Team SVS) ST; 9. Aaron Gate (Team Motatapu) ST; 10. George Bennett (Team SVS) ST; 11. Sergio Hernandez (Jackson Plumbing-Plumbing World) ST; 12. Ryan Obst (Radio Sport) ST; 13. Jeremy Yates (Share the Road) ST; 14. Daniel Barry (Benchmark Homes) ST; 15. Shane Archbold (PowerNet) ST; 16. Jason Christie (Calder Stewart-BikeNZ National) ST; 17. James McCoy (Benchmark Homes) ST; 18. Joseph Chapman (Creation Signs-Ultimo) ST; 19. William Tehan (Orca Velo Merino) ST; 20. Josh Atkins (Benchmark Homes) ST; 21. Kevin Nicol (Jackson Plumbing-Plumbing World) ST; 22. Mark Langlands (Pure Black Racing) ST; 23. Anthony Chapman (Creation Signs-Ultimo) ST; 24. Wade Mangham (Ascot Park Hotel) ST; 25. Greg Henderson (Calder Stewart-BikeNZ National) ST;
1. Jeremy Yates (Share the Road) 10h20m01s; 2. Jack Bauer (Share the Road) at 04s; 3. Hayden Roulston (Calder Stewart-BikeNZ National) at 20s; 4. Floyd Landis (Orca Velo Merino) at 01m02s; 5. Michael Olheiser (Jackson Plumbing-Plumbing World) at 01m10s; 6. Daniel Barry (Benchmark Homes) at 01m16s; 7. Matthew Marshall (The Southland Times-H&J's Outdoor World) at 01m21s; 8. Gordon McCauley (Share the Road) at 01m25s; 9. Mike Northey (Pure Black Racing) at 01m38s; 10. James McCoy (Benchmark Homes) at 01m38s; 11. Clinton Avery (Ascot Park Hotel) at 01m45s; 12. Sergio Hernandez (Jackson Plumbing-Plumbing World) at 01m51s; 13. Josh Atkins (Benchmark Homes) at 01m53s; 14. Glen Chadwick (Pure Black Racing) at 01m59s; 15. Alexander Ray (Orca Velo Merino) at 02m21s; 16. Alex Meenhorst (Team SVS) at 02m38s; 17. Anthony Chapman (Creation Signs-Ultimo) at 02m39s; 18. Elliot Crowther (PowerNet) at 02m44s; 19. Kevin Nicol (Jackson Plumbing-Plumbing World) at 02m51s; 20. Shem Rodger (Pure Black Racing) at 02m52s; 21. William Tehan (Orca Velo Merino) at 02m56s; 22. Greg Henderson (Calder Stewart-BikeNZ National) at 03m14s; 23. Joseph Chapman (Creation Signs-Ultimo) at 03m19s; 24. Pedro Palma (Placemakers) at 03m20s; 25. Jason Christie (Calder Stewart-BikeNZ National) at 03m24s;
1. Share the Road 31h01m42s; 2. Benchmark Homes at 03m08s; 3. Jackson Plumbing-Plumbing World at 04m13s; 4. Pure Black Racing at 04m37s; 5. Orca Velo Merino at 04m40s; 6. Calder Stewart-BikeNZ National at 05m29s; 7. Team SVS at 06m24s; 8. PowerNet at 08m19s; 9. The Southland Times-H&J's Outdoor World at 10m11s; 10. Creation Signs-Ultimo at 13m13s;
1. Roman Van Uden (Pure Black Racing) 68; 2. Clinton Avery (Ascot Park Hotel) 38; 3. Bevan Mason (Ascot Park Hotel) 24; 4. Karl Murray (Share the Road) 22; 5. Mike Northey (Pure Black Racing) 20; 6. Glen Chadwick (Pure Black Racing) 18; 7. Will Dickeson (Team SVS) 12; 8. Alex Meenhorst (Team SVS) 10; 9. Joe Cooper (Subway Avanti Pro Cycling) 10; 10. Alexander Ray (Orca Velo Merino) 8.