In-form Vink on cycling podium in Germany
Christchurch cyclist Michael Vink has made a strong start to the latest tour race for the BikeNZ squad in Germany today.
Vink has finished third in the 4.2km prologue in the International Thuringen Rhundfhart Under-23 tour of Germany.
This follows his victory in the recent UCI 1.2 category Philippe Coningsloo Memorial in Belgium.
Vink clocked 4:56.15 to finish three seconds behind winner Damien Howson (AUS) with Olympic omnium gold medallist Lasse Norman Hansen second.
The testing the eight-day International Thuringen Rundfahrt under-23 tour has attracted national teams from Australia, Denmark, USA, Sweden, Great Britain, Russia, Austria and New Zealand and development teams from many of the major professional teams.
Results, prologue, 4.2km: Damien Howson (AUS) 4:52.84, 1; Lasse Norman Hansen (DEN) 4:53.69, 2; Michael Vink (BikeNZ) 4:56.15, 3. Other New Zealanders: Alex Frame (Thuringer Energie) 5:04.00, 12; Pieter Bulling (BikeNZ) 5:12.55, 39; Josh Atkins (BikeNZ) 5:14.61, 45; Hayden McCormick (BikeNZ) 5:18.01, 57; Cameron Karwowski (BikeNZ) 5:19.91, 63; Hamish Scheurs (BikeNZ) 5:21.89, 71.