Jeremy Yates (Subway-Avanti) jumped into the lead in the Tour of Southland after the opening day, which was split into a time trial and a road race. Yates won the road race with a solo break and leads the overall by 25 seconds over Heath Blackgrove (Colourplus). The day was started with an individual 8.42-kilometre time trial, where Blackgrove won.
The short time trial was a tight affair, with four riders tied on time, distinguished only by the hundredths of seconds. Another four riders were two seconds back, including Yates.
