🚴 Tri NZ elite squad member Benjamin Airey has underscored his pedal prowess by sensationally winning the 5th stage of road cycling’s iconic SBS Bank Tour of Southland.
Riding for Team PowerNet, the Canterbury Triathlon Club 21-year-old held off Jack Drage (Creation Signs Whoosh NZ Cycling Project) and Christoph Janssen (Open Country TES) in a sprint finish to claim Thursday’s 178.5km stage from Invercargill to Lumsden.
Airey was part of a four-man breakaway which defied the odds for over 100km and capitalised on the form built during a recent training and triathlon racing spell in Europe, including time in the mountains of Andorra, Hayden Wilde country.
Matthew Wilson (Advanced Personnel) retained the leader’s orange jersey with just three stages to race in the 70th edition of the tour.
Airey’s win comes after he placed 7th in the tour’s Queen stage, a 109km, stage 4 leg buster from Mossburn that climaxed with a 6km climb up The Remarkables. Last year Airey served as a domestique for PowerNet, helping Josh Burnett to his third Southland title.
The popular Tri NZ squad member is ranked 354th in the lasted World Triathlon rankings and 28th in Oceania. His season highlights include 20th at Oceania Cup Napier in March and 15th at the Oceania SuperSprint Championships in the Gold Coast in April.
His last start on the global circuit was good for 22nd place at Africa Triathlon Premium Cup Larache in Morocco in early July.
Airey is 6th on the waitlist for World Triathlon Cup Tauranga on November 22 though will need a number of withdrawals to make the start line, including at least one NZ athlete as the start list already includes Team NZL’s maximum national quota of seven.
📺 You can catch coverage of Airey’s HUGE WIN on TVNZ+ Sport from about 10.30pm Thursday, November 5.
