2011 Cycling Australia National Road Series.

New Zealand young guns Myron Simpson and Aaron Gate thrust Australia into the background on a drama-injected second day of the Tifosi Eyewear Tour of the Murray River on Monday.

Simpson, 21, toppled overnight leader Steele Von Hoff and Canberra veteran Stuart Shaw in the blisteringly-fast third stage - a 25.5km criterium at Numurkah.

Gate, 20, outsprinted Ballarat's Patrick Shaw and the improving Adam Phelan to claim stage four - a 82km road race from Numurkah to Nathalia, via the Barmah state forest.

The stage resembled a battleground as up to 20 riders landed on the bitumen in six separate crashes in tricky winds.

The rangy Drapac rider David Kelly was forced to withdraw from the eight-day tour after sustaining severe abrasions in a 12-man pile-up at the 25km mark.

Victorian Liam Dove was involved in a particularly nasty incident when he crashed heavily while receiving mechanical assistance from his Jayco VIS / Apollo team vehicle.

While the chaos was unravelling, Patrick Shaw (Genesys) escaped in a breakaway with Gate (Rabodirect NZ) and seven other riders and sped into Nathalia 10 seconds ahead of the peloton.

Shaw's aggressive tactics helped propel him into outright leadership, 9 secs ahead of Phelan (Drapac) and 15 secs in front of Gate.

But the day belonged to the New Zealand national team which is contesting the 847km tour under the directorship of the legendary New Zealand cyclist Gordon McCauley, a bronze medallist at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games.

McCauley won the inaugural Lakes Oil Tour of Gippsland in 2005 and last year finished third in the Murray tour and triumphed in the Caterpillar Underground Mining Tour of Tasmania.

The tour continues Tuesday with a 71km stage from Echuca to Kyabram, followed by a 30km criterium in Rochester.

Source: Trans Tasman rivalry heats up in the Murray