The race resulted in an exciting finish between my team mate Hanco Kachelhoffer and I in the general classification. On the final slopes of the mountain only a few seconds separated us, and once we had dropped David Kopp, it was only between us for the overall!
I had attacked near the bottom, and once clear, with 2 kms left to race, this is what I could see behind me: David Garret was forcing the pace and was dragging my team mates along, he was riding into what he had hoped, was a podium position in the tour. They were not far behind me, and I pushed on hoping to get the stage and tour win, (Hanco was in agreement with me attacking and racing for the time over him in the stage).
However, Garret was riding hard for his result too, and my gap did not open up very much. I struggled up the final meters of the hill to the finish line at the gate of the Taal Monument, and relaxed just before the line, taking the moment to raise my arms in victory.
Behind me, Hanco, Luthando and Rabie had been able to stay with Garret, and with the hunger known to competitive bike riders, they sprinted for the line. Hanco then Luthando, Rabie and then Garret crossed the finish just a few seconds after I had. I needed 12 sec to win the tour, but I was 8 sec quicker than Hanco on the line. My winning time bonus of 10sec put me in the lead, but Hanco's 2nd place bonus of 6sec, brought him back on a par with me, and we ended on exactly the same overall time!
I ride the final meters to win the stage © Hendrik Steytler
The overall tour win would boil down to the placings that we had achieved during the tour, and although we were both stage winners, Hanco had placed better than me in the other stages with two second's and a fourth, to my third, sixth and ..other place.
So the overall Tour de Boland win went to Hanco Kachelhoffer, with me in second place. Third was also a tight affair, as David Kopp had gotten himself up the final climb just fast enough to stay 1 second clear of Garret!
Hanco Kachelhoffer after winning the Tour de Boland! ©Hendrik Steytler
In four days of racing, the results were that close, a count back to stage results to separate the first two, and just 1 second to separate fourth place from a podium spot! You have got to love the sport of cycling, and the dynamics
involved!
Waylon of Team Medscheme controlling the pace © Ronelle Rust, Torquepics
Our Team Medscheme riders, along with some from Kuota, had controlled the final day, catching the two man break of Jim and Mnquazi, and then set a strong tempo leading up to the final ascent to the finish. Woolcock and Kaka had ridden strongly all day, and surprisingly enough, Kaka could still stay with the second group on the climb to finish 3rd on the day!
This Tour de Boland was organized at a moments notice, and was a great event for riders to learn and gain experience in tour riding. As a seasoned campaigner, German, Bjorn Glasner said: 'we go back to our roots hey!' That was what it was about! The German team of Kuota- Indeland used this tour as preparation for their season, and added an international flavour and level to it. Team Medscheme used the tour to practice controlling a tour, with an eye on winning it.
The other riders, veterans, juniors had hopefully kept an eye on proceedings and took note of how a tour is ridden by the different teams, and how the racing evolves over the days.
Songezo Jim and Siyabonga Mnquazi pleased to be on the attack again! © Ronelle Rust
It was great to see those guys who took their chances, and tried to make good their escapes. These riders rode with out fear of the distance, and tried their luck up the road,
Songezo Jim and
Siyabonga Mnquazi of Velokhaya both tried on two of the days to outwit the bunch with gutsy attacks, but the experienced Germans and Team Medscheme kept them in check. James Tennent (Superwatt) and Albertus Rust (Cape Town Market) had a good go in the criterium stage, also gaining ground, but just losing out in the final 10kms before the finish!
These races are about taking note of where you stand on the classification, and if you are no threat to the lead (in other words; you have already lost a good chunk of time), then have a go for the stage. Too many riders were happy to stay in the bunch and not try anything, or get intimidated by the Germans when they would say: no attacking! As they wanted an easy day! Rather take your chance, you may never know what may come if you don't try!
Another way to race the tour is to make sure that you are in the action from the start, and then try to get a good result early on. Then hang on to it, until the crunch moment. In the first stage, David Garret, Anton Wynand, Stefan Ihlefeldt and Petrus Loto all made the good escape, but by the end, only Wynand and Garret could capitalize on it and keep their top ten position. All learning curves! I hope that these opportunities will come around more often for the development of our country's young riders. Keep an eye on some of these guys. I am sure that their names will pop up in future results!
As they said, going back to the roots of cycling! Great to see everyone participating © KandiceBuys
Elite Men, Overall Results:1st Kachelhoffer Hanco (Team Medscheme) 13:02:46
2nd White Nic (Team Medscheme) 13:02:46 3rd Kopp David (Kuota - Indeland) 13:04:27
4th Garrett David (Daikin Gu) 13:04:28
5th Wynand Anton (Cape Town Market) 13:04:46
6th Kaka Luthando (Team Medscheme) 13:06:59
7th Rabie Johan (Team Medscheme) 13:07:13 8th Rust Albertus (Cape Town Market) 13:07:34
9th Glasner Bjorn (Kuota - Indeland) 13:07:55
10th Galvin Alex (EMG Cycling) 13:07:59