Jan 27th, 10.  Stage 1 of the Trust House Cycle Classic was taken out by the defending champion, Australian Peter McDonald, but if the stage had been 50m longer it may have been a different result.

McDonald finishes as the peloton sprints in ©Peter Bruggerman

McDonald won the 121km stage from the Rimutaka Tavern in Upper Hutt through to Masterton in 3h03m51s and earned the yellow tour leader's jersey for doing so.

His team Drapac Porsche signalled their intention to ride aggressively and defend their tour title when Lachlan Norris made the first break of the day just after the start in Upper Hutt.

When Norris hit the top of the climb he was with six riders including three other Australian teams, each with one rider; Fly V Australia, Jayco Skins and Genesys Wealth Advisers.

The Kiwis weren't left totally behind with Team Solway's Scott Lyttle looking comfortable and, surprisingly, Subway Avanti's Gordon McCauley, the NZ time trial champion, was there in the action.  

McCauley said afterwards he found himself at the split of the peloton and decided to go with the front bunch hoping he'd get a headstart up the hill.  

At the top of the climb the break were about 1m20 ahead of the main peloton, with many other small groups a fair way back already.

Norris, who was crowned the first King of the Mountain after the stage, had not ridden the Rimutaka Hill before, and said afterwards he was pleased the climb turned out not as long as he expected.

The KOM sprint at the Rimutaka Summit - Norris in red ©RoadCycling.co.nz

NZ Road Champions Bauer (r), Findlay (l) with McDonald in the middle (in red) ©RoadCycling.co.nz

NZ Elite Road Champion Jack Bauer was leading the chase group at the top of the Rimutaka Hill, while U23 Road Champion Tom Findlay was right behind with McDonald between the two Kiwis.

Bauer may have been in the front of the action at this stage of the race, but he wasn't there for all of it.  He told RoadCycling.co.nz his form has been going downhill fast since his win at the Nationals earlier in the month.  

Bauer finished with the next twenty riders home +16s but had to work hard to catch back on a couple of times during the race, his first in the National Champion jersey.  Bauer's Trust House Team has weakened somewhat with two riders crashing out of the stage.  

Only in New Zealand! ©Peter Bruggerman

On the second climb of the day, the defending champion took off and his teammate Norris joined him by the top of the climb.

"Only to be stopped by a flock of sheep. Very New Zealand," said McDonald.

While the riders enjoyed the safety and lack of traffic congestion up the Rimutaka Hill thanks to rolling traffic closures, no one told the local sheep there was a race coming through.  

The race had to be halted while the sheep were cleared and although the front riders' gap was reinstated, many others who had fallen off the back of the peloton enjoyed the chance to catch back up.

However, not all riders managed to catch up as the peloton was spread out with more than thirty riders 20 minutes back and a couple 50 minutes off the pace.

On the final climb McDonald had to go it alone when Norris felt the impact of his aggressive ride kick in. McDonald then hung on and crossed the line just as the peloton threatened to catch him.

McDonald back in yellow in 2010 ©RoadCycling.co.nz

"Luckily I looked around with about 500m to go and saw they were there, so I started the sprint to make sure they stayed away," McDonald said.

According to McDonald it's early days to be talking about whether he's going to be wearing the leader's jersey at the tour end on Sunday, but he added it was good to be in the lead.

"Tomorrow is Admiral's Hill [hill top finish] and it will make a decisive move as to whether I stay in the yellow jersey," he predicted.

In form NZ teams

- Bici Vida - all five of their riders (all U23) home within 25s of the winner

- Team Solway - all five riders in under +25s

- Subway Avanti - four riders in under +25s

- Cardno Team - three riders in under +25s and super strong stage from Avery and Mangham, tomorrow will tell whether they can recover.

Leader's jerseys after stage 1

Yellow  - Peter McDonald, Drapac Porsche

KOM - Lachlan Norris, Drapac Porsche

Sprint - Jay Thomson, Fly V Australia

U23 - Michael Matthews, Jayco Skins Team

Related articles on the Trust House Cycle Classic

• Full results
• Team lists
• Torckler crowned Trust House Tour Champion
• Fast paced stage sets Torckler up for final tour defence
• Sprint Ace wins stage but Kiwi retains yellow
• Attacks expected in Trust House tour today
• Torckler gives Kiwis something to cheer about
• From Tour Down Under to Wellington tour
• Defending champion stakes his claim
• Summit fun on Rimutaka Hill
• Five NZ champions for Trust House tour
• Kiwi Aussie showdown looming
• Defending champion back for Trust House tour

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