MCCAULEY, NEWTON, GERDEMANN AND HUNTER ALL ABSENT FROM TODAY'S STAGE

Gordon McCauley was one of several dnf?s during yesterday?s stage of the Tour of Britain after a stomach bug and mechanical problems conspired to put him out of contention.

The Kiwi eventually climbed off his bike after the second climb of Watersmeet, ?I was sick the night before and spent the whole night on the toilet,? the Plowman Craven rider told cyclingweekly.co.uk

?I had some gearing problems on the first climb and had to ride it in the big chainring. I managed to stay with the leaders, but when I came back to look for the management they were looking after some of the other riders who had been dropped.?

McCauley then punctured after the second climb of Watersmeet and after waiting several minutes for a change, decided to call it a day. ?I don?t want to keep forcing myself with the worlds coming up.?

?I rode 60km this morning, I?ll start each day and ride ahead of the route and climb off at the feed and get a lift with the soigny?s. I need to take it easy but I also need to train.?

Chris Newton was another non-finisher on the races crucial second stage after learning that his expectant wife had been admitted to hospital. It wasn?t a great day for the British Recycling.co.uk team as Adam Bonser pulled out through illness and none of their riders finished in the lead group.

Linus Gerdemann of T-Mobile, Hans Dekkers (Agritubel), Michael Wolf (Navigators) and Robbie Hunter (Barloworld) were the other non finishers.