Proffesional Cyclist on Team MTN Qhubeka

So the past 2 weeks we were really busy; 12 races days in 15 days…

First up was Arno Wallaard in Holland, a very technical race with a lot of wind, corners and narrow roads, with around 200 riders all fighting for position. We had Brad Potgieter in the break that stayed to finish, unfortunately for Brad he was caught 4km to go, while the others stayed away by a few seconds. I placed 17th, and Arran Brown 24th.

The next day we off to do the Ronde van Noord Holland. A crazy race, with long exposed stretches of roads and dykes. The race was into 10 groups within the first hour of racing. Its was like a long pursuit, between an early breakaway group and the remnants of the peloton. I found myself in this 2nd group. We finally caught the group up ahead with around 50km remaining and immediately another group of 10 went off the front. I managed to get into this move and quickly opened a massive gap to the rest. The rest was pulled off the road a lap short as they fell too far behind, and only 9 riders made it to the finish. Gediminas Bagdonas made his move with 25km to go and solo’d to victory. I missed out on a podium spot as I finished 3rd in the bunch behind.

Next up was the Tour of Bretagne. I had some hopes to contest the overall, but had to be realistic as it was only our first tour in Europe this year. In the first couple of stages things didn’t quite go to plan as I lost 39s to the leader in the first 3 stages. But things started to change as we approached the really hard part of the race with hard finishing circuits everyday.

I won stage 4 which went up the Mur de Bretagne, was 2nd on Stage 6 and moved up to 13s behind race leader, Eric Berthou.

The Final stage featured a 2km hill up cobbles and we believed we still had a shot at the overall. The team did a great job of isolating Eric from his Bretagne Schuller teammates and I launched my attack with 1.5km to go. It worked and I crossed the finish line clear of the pack. Initially I thought I won the stage and consequently the tour, but then I learned that one rider from the breakaway managed to stay away. I then knew it would be close as I needed a gap of at least 7s, along with the bonus 6s to put on level time with Berthou. As the judges reviewed the footage, it was shown that I got exactly the 7s I needed and on count-back on finishing positions of everyday, I won the tour by 22 positions.

There wasn’t too much celebrations, however, as 3 days later we started our next race: The Ronde van Overijjsel. A 2day event with a short 2.8km prologue and a 202km road race. I gave everything I had in the prologue and it was enough to win by 3s. Arran Brown finished 6th place, with Martin Wesemann in 8th.

The next day was quite tricky though with a lot of bonus seconds up for grabs on the road and at the finish. An early break of 2 riders, which wasn’t too dangerous on GC, took the major bonuses at the first prime, they were brought back before the 2nd prime, where I lost out on gaining a few seconds to other riders who also weren’t too dangerous, and I won the 3rd prime with a great leadout from my teammates and Arran Brown.

Things sooned turned for the worst as the rain started and made the road very slippery. At one corner in a forest the entire team slipped and we all went down like a deck of cards. In the confusion some riders tried to make a move, which put the team on its limit. Soon the race split into many groups. I got into the first group, but had no teammates left. Luckily I had the legs to cover the moves and make a few moves of my own, which discouraged riders from attacking. Koga cycling team had the numerical advantage and a fast finisher in Wim Stoetinga in the group. And took control, the finished it off with a well deserved stage victory for their man. I finished 4th, but it was enough to take the overall honours.

The next day was off the Circuit de Wallonie. A bridge too far we all thought, as we could now feel the heavy racing schedule and the previous day’s crash in the legs. My legs didn’t feel good all day. We had representation in the breakaways from Dennis van Niekerk and Merron Russom, which were ultimately both brought back.

The final circuit featured a brute of a climb in the last 2km, so steep that I was grinding a 26T. Anyway the race seemed done and dusted as a 8 man break, containing cyclocross legend; Sven Nys, rode off the front with 2laps to go, however An Post-Sean Kelly team did an excellent job in bringing at the foot of the final time up the climb. I got myself into a good position and with 300m to go I forgot about my tired legs, and went for it. I got a gap and kept it too the line. I have to say I was really shocked to have won again.

Anyway we have some time off now asour next race is only next Wednesday; the Fleche du Sud, a 5-day stage race, in Luxembourg.

The weather spoiled our fun yesterday, on eastermonday, at the Rund Om Koln. It was around 4C and rain non-stop. Not something any of us are used to. Being a bike rider isn’t easy anyway, so with no complaints we got our rain gear on and set off for a 200km trek around Cologne.

Photo: Cyclingnews.com

The race itself, its quite technical, with a lot of short and very steep hills and twisty roads, the final 45km was on flat roads. Many moves tried to get away in the beginning and the bunch split on the hills and gutters a number of times only to rejoin.

At about 80km in an 11 man move rode clear, most of the big teams had riders in the front, with the exception of Saxobank. As the speed dropped in the peloton the weather really started to effect the riders. I can’t remember being that cold on my bike before. I remember just hoping the race would become hard so I can warm up a little.

Anyway Saxobank chased for a while, but everybody lacked motivation and the break was left to run clear. We didn’t have a rider in front and with the gap at 4mins with 40km remaining we wanted to try to bring it back. But as the call was made, bad luck struck…I hooked bars with my Teammate, Bradley, and went down. I got up and dragged myself to the finish in the bunch.

By the time we got the finishing circuit the break had a big enough advantage, to force the bunch to stop and let the break ride past, as the break was nearly a full lap ahead. Jan Barta of Team Netapp managed to ride solo in the last 45km to the line to take the win.

Photo: Cyclingnews.com

I am lucky to have no major injuries, just a few cuts on my chin and cheek and a few roasties here and there. Our next race will only be next Saturday, the Arno Wallaard in Holland.

So the past 2 weekends was a bit of a dream for me. 2 weeks ago, I managed to win the South African Time Trial championships, finished 2nd in the Road Race and won the Cape Argus on Sunday.

The Time Trail was first up on Thursday the 1st of March on a very challenging 40km route. I knew I had a good chance to win if I arrived at the event in top form and if I was able to mentally endure for the full 40km. I literally pulled myself inside out, and rode at an average Heart Rate of 191BPM, 10BPM below my Maximum, for the entire TT.  I managed to win by a slender 13s ahead of Jay Thompson (United HealthCare), with Johann Rabie (Bonitas) a further second back.  The big favourite of the day, Robbie Hunter (Garmin-Barracuda) was pushed off the podium by a mere second. This was the closest Time Trail at SA’s, with the top 6 men finishing within 35s of one another as far as the records go anyway.  Louis Meintjes (Toyota-CSA) won the u23 event ahead of the surprise of the day JC Nel (MTN Qhubeka) 21s behind.

I have to thank my support staff for their amazing effort ensuring I had everything I needed done and going out of their way to keep us cool in warm up in the Nelspruit heat. My background in Sport Science also help me as we decided to use ArcticHeat Cooling Vests to keep core temperatures down during the warmup.

I am extremely proud to be the new South African Time Trial Champion

On sunday it was the road race on a tough 160km course, consisting of 3 laps of 50km and 5km to and from the circuit. Somewhat short for a national champs, but it would be a big fight for the jersey nevertheless.

It was pretty evident that Robert Hunter would be dangerous after his disappointment in the Time Trial placing 4^th and he made it clear in the media that he would like to win. He didn’t have any teammates to support, but Jay Thomson, completely sacrificed his chances in support for Hunter.

On the first lap a group containing Bradley Potgieter, Songezo Jim(both MTN Qhubeka), Jason Bakke, Hanco Kachelhoffer(Both Bonitas), David Maree(Tasol) and Gawie Combrink(TCS) got clear and quickly built and maintained a 2-3min advantage. Back in the main field things were calm and the pressure was on the “internationals” Thomson, Hunter and Augustyn, to close it down.

Thomson along with NUwater controlled the gap until James Tennant(NUwater) went on solo on the 2^nd lap to bridge the gap. Although a strong ride he couldn’t quite make it and it resulted in him being caught in “No man’s Land”. Thompson, without any help, continued an impressive ride to control the gap between 2 and 3minutes for the better part of 100km.

On the last lap alliances up front started to break as Jason Bakke and Songezo Jim moved clear of the other 4. Initially this was a sticky situation for us, as Songezo is still u23 and technically couldn’t contest for the elite win. This forced us to chase initially, but on the last climb we could see Bradley Potgieter dropping his fellow companions and bridging across to the 2 leaders. Suddenly we were in the ideal situation, as I had full confidence to win the sprint between him and Jason and Songezo would win u23.

With Jay Thompson finally weakening Tasol took up the chase on closed it down with 20km to go and with no more climbs left, a bunch sprint seemed to be on the cards. However the wind played on last factor and the direction was just right to force a gap.

Robert Hunter made the move on the descent and Johann Rabie, Nolan Hoffman (Tasol) and Arran Brown (MTN) went along. I was slow to react but managed to ride across in time. The 5 of us quickly opened up an advantage and this would be the final move of the day. It was ironic to see 4 Fast men off the front on which was a circuit with a fair amount of climb, but the winner would be the one who’s legs were the best.

On the final hill 2km to go Johann Rabie launched his bid for victory, he managed to get away from Arran and Nolan, but I, followed by Rob, was glued to his wheel.  This remained the position as we entered the final 300m.

The final sprint was quite tricky being downhill with a slight left hander 120m to go and barriers on the right on the exit. I knew if I could get into the corner with a big enough advantage that I could drift wide towards the barriers and block Rob from coming past. So I kicked first and did everything as planned, but I made one mistake and opened the door for Rob in the final 50m. He managed to take the gap and just pip me on the line.

Quite disappointing to lose by such a  small margin after making one little mistake, but that’s racing and I would just have to learn from it.

Congratulations to Rob on his first South African Road Title, after missing it for the past 12 years. He is definitely deserving of the title and will do the jersey proud on the World Tour.

Finally it was the time for the biggest timed event in the world, the Pick ‘n Pay Cape Argus cycletour. It’s a pretty important event for South Africans and the pulicity is as big as ”le tour” itself, so it was a “must win event”. Our Plan was for Arran Brown for the win, with me as a backup should a breakaway ride clear.

Our biggest rivals were Bonitas’ Herman Fouche and last years winner Tyler Day and the 3 boys from Omega Pharma-Quickstep, especially Julien Vermote, who recently won Drie Daagse van West-Vlaanderen. But our biggest threat was perhaps Nolan Hoffman, and we wanted to get away from him if the oppurtunity represented itself.

The race started out quite calm and slow, but once we got to Smitswinkel a 4man group containing Shuan Ward(NUwater), Jason Bakke (Bonitas), Richard Baxter (Tasol) and JC Nel(MTN Qhubeka) rode clear. The group built up an advantage of 1minute before we decided to take up the chase and put 5 men in front to bring it back. They were finally reeled in on Chapman’s peak, as the big counter’s followed.

A small split rode clear as riders scrambled to cross to the gap. At the bottom of Suikerbossie a 12man break formed up and it was to be the winning move. We had both myself and Arran in there along with JC Nel and Dennis van Niekerk. Thus being in the box seats with only Herman Fouche as I major threat represented the break. The 3 Quickstep riders and Tasol missed the break and chased in vain to close it down.

In the final 10km just about everyone in front who had doubt of their chances in the sprint had a go. It was up to JC, Dennis and Myself to try to keep it undercontrol as we tried to set it up for Arran. Johan Rabie had the last go in the final km, but the headwind made it difficult to get away.

I was right behind Rabie at his stage and as I looked around I saw 2 climbers, Jaco Venter (NUwater) and Kevin Evans (360 Life), behind me and Herman Fouche marking Arran quite far back. I knew if I went early I would still have a chance as I felt pretty good. I got the gap I needed and held on for the win.

Unfortunately for us Arran suffered a incident, touching wheels with our leadout man Dennis and nearly crashed. Forcing him to unclip. He still managed 4th though.

Its incredible the publicity around this event and what the people make of it. It’s defnitely a good race to win to get your name out there in the view of the general public.

So as you might know, I crashed out in spectacular fashion in yesterday’s crit, a photographer named Peter Morey was at hand to take some great action pictures. Know I can laugh about it and thought I share it so you can too.

Ok so what happened was: I made a move quite early on in the crit and built up a 15-20s lead over the chasing bunch, but I was pushing too hard through each corner and as I started to tire, I misjudged my speed into a 90 degree right hander and my back wheel slid and gripped again, causing my balance to shift and ultimately being “high-sided” of the bike.

So here’s photo one:

Just after my wheel slipped it gripped again, causing my weight to be shifted to the right. I am trying hard to hold it together and stay on the bike.

Photo 2:

“I’m holding it” – not…..FAIL

Photo 3:

Boom — Hitting the floor

Photo 4:

Bike in the air, bandage from previous crash coming off, chain jumping around.

Photo 5:

Total Chaos

Photo 6:

My facial expression the funniest. Staring into the distance as if nothing happened while my back is flying about behind me.

Photo 7:

 Yip, I lost it……

Well the fast one is traditionally the first race of the season, giving a lot of guys an indication of their form. To most the intensity of their first race is a bit of a shock to system and we wanted to capitalize on this by making the race hard and trying to force a split.The new 106km route goes along a figure of 8 around Meyerton, which is quite flat, but the wind could play a factor.

The first couple of km’s went by quick and no move could get a decent gap.  Bad luck struck as their was an unfortunate crash around a wet corner which saw my teammate Martin Wesseman breaking his collarbone.

At about 45km in a group of 8 guys managed to force open a gap. It was Myself, Arran Brown, Bradley Potgieter from MTN, while Bonitas had 2, Ian Mcleod and Herman Fouche and 3 other individuals from other teams, namely; David Maree (Tasol), Christoff van Heerden (NorthCliff) and Louis Meintjies (Toyota) represented.

This was a good move for us and the other riders didn’t want to work with us, leaving Brad Potgieter and I to do all of the pacemaking, while we saved Arran for the finish. Fortunately for us there was a side wind to wear the other riders down that were sitting in, and a tailwind home, making it difficult for the chasing bunch to catch up. So we decided to push on.

As the gap approached 1minute, Bonitas, Westvaal-BMC and Nuwater combined to bring it back. But with the speed consistently over 50kmph, we knew that the chasing bunch would have had to ride at 60kmph just to catch up. Towards the end we opened more than a 2minute gap. In fact, with the two of us pacing we covered 63km in an hour an 20minutes.

Towards the end Brad’s job was to keep a high pace, while I covered any attacks and saving Arran for the sprint. I followed Ian Mcleod’s attack with 1.5km to go. Immediately after, Louis Meintjies countered. As I got on his wheel I saw that I had about a 30m gap to the rest of the bunch and went for it with 450m to go. It seemed like I had done enough, but the line just wouldn’t come. I was passed in the final 20m by Christoff van Heerden, followed by David Maree and Arran Brown.

It was a little disappointing that we couldn’t win the race, sometimes you do everything right, but in the end it all can go wrong. But well done to Christoff, he patiently waited and timed his effort to perfection, its good to see him on top form again.

I think the new route lacks a little of inspiration and their was a lot of dangerous moments with a bunch of around 150 guys with no road closure. Something the organisers desperately need to look at.

Result:

1. Christoff van Heerden (Northcliff cycles)

2. David Maree (Tasol)

3. Arran Brown (MTN Qhubeka)

4. Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (MTN Qhubeka)

5. Herman Fouche (Bonitas)

6. Louis Meintjies (Toyota CSA)

7. Bradley Potgieter (MTN Qhubeka)

8. Ian Mcleod (Bonitas)

9. Dusty Day (Westvaal-BMC)

10. Meron Russom ((MTN Qhubeka)