Matt Zenovich has produced a powerful performance to confirm his hometown hero status on the first stage of the SBS Bank Tour of Southland.
Zenovich won a three man sprint up the main street of Lumsden to claim victory in the one hundred and seventy kilometre stage from Invercargill, to claim the yellow jersey.
The event got underway in Invercargill yesterday, with the opening team time-trial prologue around Queens Park.
It was chance for teams to stretch their legs and test their combinations ahead of a hard week of racing on the Southland roads.
Today's leg saw riders pass through Thornbury, Otautau, Ohai and Nightcaps, before travelling through Dipton and Castlerock and finishing in Lumsden.
Tomorrow’s stage is from Riverton to Te Anau.
The sixty second Tour of Southland finishes in Invercargill on November the third.
