Kelvin Hastie wins the inaugural 'Tour of Southland' cycling in 1956......

Pat Wylie (left) congratulates Kelvin Hastie on his win.

The year was 1956 and it was not only Southland's centennial year but the inaugural "Tour of Southland".  
Dunedin's Kelvin Hastie won the Southland Centennial three-day cycle tour.
He covered nearly 300 miles of Southland roads in an excellent time of 15 hr 23 min 57 sec.
Pat Wylie, the man most New Zealanders said should have gone to the Olympic Games was just over two minutes behind.
Hastie was gracious in his win and felt Wylie was unlucky not to be number one on the podium.

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The race started at 10am from the Invercargill Post Office on 27 September 1956.  

Day 1.
It belonged to Pat Wylie from Canterbury who had everything to prove from missing out on selection for the Olympic team.  
He was brillant in winning two of the three sprints, both hill climbs and the first stage with a effortless finishing sprint.
His ride was shown appreciation by the crowd with a rousing cheer and a kiss from the Lumsden belle, Miss Marie Thomlinson.
Invercargill's John Holloway and Harry Hubber both rode well and finished fourth and fifth respectively. Alex Pangiotidis finished eighth. 
Other placegetters were; second - G. Painter (Christchurch), third - K. Hastie (Dunedin) and sixth - G. Weddell (Christchurch) seventh - S. Taylor (Hamilton) ninth - N. Alexandra (Christchurch) tenth - H. Bush (Christchurch)  eleventh - A. Wapp (Wanganui) twelth- M. Marsh (Christchurch).

Day 2.
The question on everyone's lips was 'could Kelvin Hastie (Dunedin) stave off Christchurch champion - Pat Wylie?"
Wylie who missed the Olympic team was 55 sec behind Hastie and had not yet been able to match him.
Wylie was popular with the spectators and after a puncture, when he caught up with Hastie and Hubber he shook hands with them - then made no attempt to beat Hastie on the last hill climb of the day.

Day 3.
It was Dunedin's Kelvin Hastie that won the three day cycle tour.
The aggregate leader at the fourth and last stage from Balclutha confirmed his win by becoming eight.
Wylie was just over two minutes behind Hastie.
As the 27 riders left Balclutha the pace was on right from the start.  A. Wapp made a break at the Balclutha Hospital Hill.  G. Weddell and C. Bremmer tried to go with him and then a bunch of 24 followed.
At Gore, Wapp was still leading but Weddell and Bush were catching.
The head wind started taking its toll on Wapp's solo ride and Bush and Weddell caught him at Mataura.
Wapp started feeling the strain at Woodlands. Wylie made the first move followed by Hastie, Holloway and Panagiotidis.
Bush was the one though that kept up the steady and showed his confidence by waving and talking to spectators.  At Elles Road he turned left instead of right but he was so far out in front it did not matter.
Bush was followed by; Weddell, Bremner, Tait, Coates, Alcock, Howie and Hastie.
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A crowd of about 5,000 watched the finish at Gala Street, Invercargill.  The first home was H. Bush , 3 laps ahead of his rival, G. Wedell of the Christchurch Avon Club.

The riders - John Healey (top), Stuart McKenzie (top right) and W. Tait (bottom right) competed in the inaugural 'Tour of Southland' and were expected to form the nucleus of a good middle-mark pack.