Haselbacher beat Malcolm Lange (Team Medscheme) and Burry Stander (Specialized) in the dash to the line, after the lead group had escaped the bunch after just 30 kms in strong crosswinds. The leading group contained riders from teams of MTN Energade (Mcleod, Evans and Janse van Rensburg), Team Medscheme (Lange, White, Kachelhoffer, Woolcock), House of Paint (Kannemeyer, Maree, Beswick), Safindit.co.za (George, Haselbacher), the German team Kuota Indeland (incl. Glasner, Kopp and Ganser), and Specialized (Stander).

The biggest action for the front group during their escape came in Wolsley at the hotspot where Lange took the time bonus from Rheinard Janse van Rensburg (MTN) and then over the climb of BainsKloof nearer to the end. The head wind had slowed the pace on the climb and the top was won by Waylon Woolcock (Team Medscheme), giving him the lead in the King of the Mountains competition. Lange also placed second at the finish, which helped him acquire the lead in the points competition, so a visit to the podium was in order for the two Medscheme riders!


Results

The day was not without adventure, and from Team Medscheme's side, a small crash by Luthando Kaka spoiled his day, but he was unhurt and finished safely. The wind was strong and riders were at risk of crashing in the cross winds, so there are a few more interesting stories to hear from our guys:

Waylon's day en-route to a Mountain Jersey:

'Looking back at the day, things worked out well for me. Going into the stage I didn't set out to win the King of the mountain jersey but the the idea was always in the back of my mind. If I'm there, I'll go for it!

The first big challenge for me, just to get to the top of any climb, is to contend with the strong winds causing the dangerous "gutter" riding in the earlier parts of the stage. For me that was the harder part of winning the mountain jersey today.

Once through fighting in the echelons and crashes and onto the footsteps of Bainskloof we quickly realized there was a gusting head wind coming down off the climb, this was making it difficult for anyone to attack and get the gap due to the slower speeds and higher slipstream effect behind one another.


Nearing the top of the climb I was feeling good. Knowing I had the legs and if I could time it right I could take the top. With around 500m to go the line wasn't visible due to the bends of the road. Ian Mcleod jumped out of a now speeding group with me following closely behind. I think Ian was hoping that the line was just around the next bend and I was hoping it wasn't. Luckily the line wasn't but still another 200m further on. With Ian going too early he actually lead me out, and launched me to the line and to a win of the first King of the Mountain jersey of the tour!

Hanco's ride with number 13:

'I started the day thinking I could break the superstition and ride with my number 13 ride side up, no bad luck right? But once we got to the nice little cross wind section, I was getting blown around nicely! While trying to get into the pace line again, I was bumped by another rider, and held my line, but then again it happened, and I was blown off the road with another guy. Still upright we tried to re join on the tar, but with a big fight for positions I took a while to get onto the road. I only got started again as the whole bunch had passed. My compatriot who had also left the road actually crashed while trying to get back up over the lip of the road!

So I was back on again, at the rear of the bunch now, with all riders going hell for leather in the strong wind! 120 riders in a line is quite a long way and I wanted to get back to front to my mates as the race was splitting properly! I realized the damage that was being caused by the front riders, as I was near the end, so had to make a big effort in the wind to get closer to the front again. Neil Mac took me across most of the way, but left with just a small gap to the front group, I gave it everything to get on, being helped on the last bit by Nic. I then had to try and recover a bit, luckily the direction had changed and the wind from the front allowed some shelter for me. Then I needed assistance to fix my gears which had gone out of sync, and with out team car with us, I used the Neutral service car. They kindly left me a big gap to close again, once I had the problem fixed!


It was a waiting game and recover session while contributing the speed of the break until we rode up BainsKloof where I followed the strongest riders before helping Waylon to win the King of the Mountain prime! Down to the finish, again I did my bit to help Mal in the sprint, and took it long, keeping my speed, but ended up losing a podium spot to Stander who pipped me for third! I will try again tomorrow, race numbers inverted!' - Hanco Kachelhoffer

Tuesday's stage consists of the circuit around Vissershoek near Durbanville. 143km, starting in Durbanville at 9h00

Pictures © Michelle Cound and www.procycling.co.za