First introduced to the region in 1984, the Yunca Tour of Southland has progressed significantly over the years. Now with a major sponsor and a dedicated team of volunteers, the longevity and success of the event has been ensured. This year’s tour formed part of Cycling New Zealand’s NRS series, and Columba College student Melanie Button participated in the event.

The annual Yunca Junior Tour of Southland has six stages raced over three consecutive days and Year 9 Columba Student, Melanie Button, participated in the challenging cycle tour during the recent school holidays. As a triathlete, this was the first pure bike race Melanie had competed in and she knew that it would be a tough challenge with the best specialist junior cyclists from around New Zealand competing. Melanie’s aim was to complete all stages of the tour and learn as much as she could from the specialist cyclists, especially during the longer road stages. 

The stages of the tour were:

Stage #1 (Day 1): Individual time trial – 3.6km

Stage #2 (Day 1): Kermesse – 14.5km

Stage #3 (Day 2): Road Race – 34km

Stage #4 (Day 2): Road Race – 25km

Stage #5 (Day 3): Criterium – 10mins + 3 laps (10km)

Stage #6 (Day 3): Road Race – 28km

Melanie managed to complete the tour successfully and got stronger and stronger as she developed with every stage and learnt how to ‘race’ the longer stages better. Getting dropped from the peloton early on during the first road race as a surge was made at the front was a big learning curve for Melanie, and she was then forced to ride the longest stage of the tour on her own. However, she showed great determination and continued to work hard throughout the stage. 

In the afternoon, Melanie was able to put into practice what she had learnt from the morning stage and was more prepared for the inevitable changes of speed. Successfully reacting to the changes in the race, Melanie remained with the peloton for the majority of the ride, and was even able to drop some riders on the final steep climb only to get reeled back in during the fast downhill finish.

Melanie's best ride came in the final stage where she stuck with the peloton for the whole race despite many tempo changes finishing 9th in a sprint finish, and was awarded the same time as the stage winner. What a fantastic experience for Melanie being fairly new to the art of road cycle racing. She is greatly looking forward to applying her new bike skills in her next triathlon event, and we wish her all the best in pursuing her sporting goals.