National road champion Joseph Cooper has maintained his strong form by taking the early lead in the New Zealand Cycle Classic.
Cooper was fastest in the five-day tour's short prologue stage on Wednesday, a 3.5km individual pursuit in Palmerston North.
Riding for Australia's Avanti Racing Team, Cooper averaged better than 50km/h to clock a time of 4 minutes 09 seconds.
That was 10 sec faster than teammate Fraser Gough, who was tied for second with another Kiwi riding for an Australian outfit - Team Subaru Albion's Morgan Smith.
A time trial specialist, Cooper surprised a strong field to win the national title in Christchurch this month and shapes as a strong contender in a field of 80 on the roads of the Manawatu and Wairarapa regions this week.
The second stage on Thursday is a 132km journey from Palmerston North to Ashhurst.
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