The Elite race of the championships was the Men's Elite and U/23 race held on Friday afternoon over an undulating route through the tranquil suburbs of the town. The race consisted of 15 laps of 11.2km and the winner came in the form of Christoff Van Heerden (MTN Energade) after a race long breakaway with numerous riders!


The race started in the heat of the day, and with nearly 170 riders all together it was a nervous beginning over the narrow suburban streets. While testing out the lap for the first time the speed was high over the undulations, and nearing the beginning of lap two, a small attack by Richard Baxter (House of Paint) caused a reaction that came from JC Nel (Mr Price), Pieter Seyffert (DCM Chrome), Adrian Niyonshuti and Christoff van Heerden (MTN Energade), as well as a young Toyota National Academy rider. The group was soon whittled down to just 5 as Niyonshuti slipped on a corner, and the Toyota rider lost contact.


The gap hovered between 30 sec and a minute as the bunch tried to react, but no organized chase developed. after the 5 man group worked well enough to get a gap of over 3 minutes, the cohesion disintegrated and by the 100km mark, Van Heerden decided to attack, reducing the front group to just White and himself. The bunch was still not organized well enough and the racing was hurting the bunch with the likes of MTN, Medscheme and David George trying to break it up over the hills. Eventually Toyota and DCM tried to get a good chase going, but the two escapees stayed clear and only in the final couple of laps did a small group develop and slip away from the bunch.


Johann Van Zyl (Toyota Academy), Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (MTN) and James Perry (EMG) made contact with the front riders on the final hills in the last lap, and then just 30 sec separated them from the bunch. The new dynamic of Perry in the front opened up the chance of attacks, and Perry got clear with 5 km remaining. Van Heerden tried to close the gap but faltered and then White attacked and went across and then went clear, alone in front. Entering the final 3kms, Perry re-joined White and they were still clear of Van Heerden and Van Zyl. The two riders in front hesitated a bit and losing speed, Van Heerden was able to claw his way back and regain the front with less than 2 km remaining. A small flurry of attacks were all that was left before the finish line was in sight and Van Heerden, a master of bunch sprints and a quick finisher, made no mistake to beat White and Perry to win the 2010 South African Road race title!

Johann Van Zyl came in a few seconds later to claim the U/23 title after a good finish to his race. Reynard Butler managed 2nd place in the U/23 race, finishing in the next group on the road, and Reinardt Janse van Rensburg took third after being dropped from the break. Van Zyl showed resilience and maturity beyond his years to mix it up with the elites at the end of the 170kms! All of these young riders are ones to watch for the future.

'It was a strange race to be in the first serious attack of the day, and last the whole of 160+km without being caught. I had hoped to be able to escape the from Van Heerden if the bunch did not catch us, or my team mates join us. With Perry joining us at the end, it gave me some chance. Unfortunately I was not able to pull it off at the end, and Christoff dug deep and was able to be in contact with us in sight of the finish. He was strong on the day, and has a superior sprint to either Perry or myself. My team had a tough day in the bunch, protecting my move, but not able to get across either, our Hanco Kachelhoffer did a great job to finish second in the bunch gallop and 5th elite for the day!' - Nic White



SA Road Race Championships
Elite Men Results - 170km
1 Christoff Van Heerden (MTN Cycling Team) 4:16:24
2 Nicholas White (Team Medscheme)
3 James Perry (EMG - Yorkshire Cycling)
4 Burry Stander (Specialized) 0:00:28
5 Hanco Kachelhoffer (Team Medscheme)
6 Jaco Venter (MTN Energade)
7 Tiaan Kannemeyer (Team House Of Paint)
8 Ian Mcleod (MTN Cycling Team)
9 Martin Wesemann (Tygerberg Cycling Club)
10 Jc Jooste (Team Matlosana)


Under 23 Men - 170km
1 Johann A Van Zyl (Toyota National Academy) 4:16:31
2 Reynard Butler (EMG - Yorkshire) 0:00:21
3 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (MTN Energade Team)
4 Michael Robinson (DCM Chrome)
5 Paul Van Zweel (Velo)