The new season has already started. And I have a new jersey on my shoulders: Argos-Shimano.

The first races are already behind me at the moment: the Ruta del Sol with was not so much ‘sol’ but more Ruta del Rain and Wind. Today I rode the Clasica de Almeria where I sprinted to second place, behind Mark Renshaw of Blanco Cycling.

While races in Belgium and Switzerland were cancelled today because of the snow, Spain mostly was nice and sunny and so is Argos-Shimano’s team base in Altea where I already spent some nice training days.

After the sun in Spain I will travel to Belgium and the Netherlands for some classics. This is my race program for March:

• Driedaagse West-Vlaanderen (1-3 March)
• Ronde van Drenthe (9 March)
• Nokere Koerse (13 March)
• Dwars door Vlaanderen (20 March)
• E3-Prijs (22 March)
• Gent-Wevelgem (24 March)
• Driedaagse De Panne (26-28 March)

I will keep you updated on the races through this website so keep an eye on it.

Reinardt

Recently, I returned back to Pretoria from another 6 week stint in Europe, were I raced the Tour of Portugal, Kernen Omloop, World Champs TTT, ITT and RR and Duo Normand.

Tour of Portugal was my first event in Europe for the “2nd half of the season”. My goal was to built form for World Championships and try to win 1 or 2 stages. Success came pretty quick as I narrowly won the prologue by 0.02 over Hugo Sabido. As all season luck seemed to be on my side and I was proud to receive the first Yellow jersey of the tour. However I was soon left frustrated as I ran in 2nd on 3 occasions, one bunch sprint, one uphill sprint and one Time Trial. Having pretty much secured the points jersey by the final stage, I really wanted make up for the run of 2nd places by getting another win.

Jaco Venter gave me a perfect leadout and I took on of my nicests wins of my career, as my friends and family could follow the action live in South Africa too.

After Portugal I had really good condition, but my luck seemed to have turned. I crashed at our next race in Holland, I wasn’t injured to badly,as I finished inside the Top20.

Our next big goal was the World Team Time Trial Championships. It was a big oppurtunity to showcase our team on the international stage and we wanted to do well. Each member of the team spent some time with the inventor of SRM, Uli Schoberer, fine tuning our TT positions on the track. It resulted in a massive saving for most of us. We also did a lot of TTT specific team training and by the race we had a well oiled trained. We used somewhat of an unconventional pacing strategy saving our smaller guys from the begining to use in the end. It paid off as we made up massive time in the last sector of the race, matching the pace of some of the top teams. At the we finished 23rd out of 32 teams, which is an achievement we were really proud of. I really enjoyed the whole event, I wish there was more TTT on the calendar.

Next was the Individuall Time Trail. It looked to be a nice day, but as I finished my warm-up a big cloud rolled in, and as I left the start chute it was bucketing down, which made the course really slippery, and at a roundabout 9km in I lost the back end and came down. I bent one of the links on my chain the process and I had to jump on the spare bike, in total costing me a lot of time. It was so slippery that a couple of other times I had to save it around the corners. Unfortunately after the finish I discovered dirt got jammed in my rear break cable on the spare bike due to the rain and my rear brake wouldn’t realise completely. It clearly wasn’t my day.

I hoped to make up for it in the Road race with a decent result, and I had 2 riders set on supporting me, Jay Thomson and Jacques Jv Rensburg. I rode a conservative race, never making any unnecassery effort, but I was caught in the big crash after 220km. It was total chaos and I waited nearly 4mins for a spare bike after I wrecked my frame, but the race started in earnest so it was pretty much over for anyone involved in the crash anyway. I stopped as I crossed the finish line, still feeling good, but with no point to continue on.

My final race was the Duo Normand, a 55km 2 man Time Trial. I had Jaco Venter, I good Time Trialist himself, as my teammate. It was really hard and we pushed ourselves to the limit to collect 6th place. A decent result.

Like most other pro’s I am not yet on Holiday. I have a few more local events coming up, first of them is Amashova this weekend. And my final goal will be African Continental Championships. It’s always important to score UCI points there to qualify more riders for next year’s World Championships.

Meanwhile I have started training again and slowly increased the miles and intensity in preparation for our next objectives, namely; The Vuelta Portugal and World Team Time Trial Championships, which the team has qualified for by being the top African team on the Continental circuit.

We recently held a 10 day training camp in preparation for these objectives in Nelspruit. During this time we also did 2 local races; Mountain2Moutain and the Jock Cycle Tour. Both of these have a reputation of being some of the toughest races in South Africa. The team was really strong and we out foxed our main rivals Team Bonitas and Westvaal-BMC at the Mountain2Mountain to take the first 9 positions. At the Jock, a 3stage 1-day race, we managed to win 2 stages, as well as take 1st and 2nd overall and a few of the minor placings. Jacques Janse van Rensburg won both races, he isn’t my brother by the way. It’s good to see him showing some form in time for Portugal.

During the camp we focused on hillwork and Time Trial and Team Time Trial training. After all, the Vuelta Portugal has an opening prologue and a 35km Individual Time Trial.

Now that the Tour de France is finished, I too had the time to write a blog post. But soon the Olympics will start and I’ll be watching EVERYTHING and root for our athletes to bring home the medals. I think Burry Stander has a real chance to grab a medal in the Cross-country MTB, and also Sifiso can surprise everyone in the BMX too. It would be fantastic if we can medal in the cycling events.

Till next time. . .

After a little break we did Fleche du Sud in Luxembourg, quite a hilly tour, and not one of my best as I made a crucial mistake on the most important stage. Anyhow I ended up their getting a 3rd and 2nd place in stages and won the Points Classification in the end.

I wanted to make up for it a little at the Tour of Gironde a week later, but again it wasn’t to be. I once again got a 2nd place and 3rd place and again won the Points classification. I wasn’t over the moon about it, but had nothing to complain as my results were as consistent as ever.

Finally in our last week we did a “nacht criterium” in Germany. Only 80km on a 2km circuit with primes on every lap, mean’t super intense racing. In the end I won the kick from a break of 3.

Our last race was the Ronde van Zeeland Seaports, a 1.1 with teams like Rabobank, Vaconsoleil, Farnese-Vini and others present. It was a pretty big occasion for us and I really wanted to do well in this one.

I was happy to see super strong winds as we arrived in Holland in the morning and from the outset Rabobank split the race in pieces. By 60km, we were down to 16 guys in the front with another 40 chasing 1’30 behind. Rabobank had the ascendancy with 5 riders in the group. They tried to use their numbers by attacking and trying to put it in the gutter on a few occasions, but with 30km to go Kevin Hulsmans, from Farnese escaped, forcing Rabobank to chase. Once he was caught his teammate Luca Ascani put in the counter and quickly opened a 30s gap. This forced Rabobank to make a move with 20km to go and Lars Boom attacked the group, dragging me and Madison World-Champion Gijs van Hoecke along.

We quickly got on terms with Ascani, but obviously Rabobank wanted more riders in front, and Mark Renshaw tried to bridge from behind in the final 10km. Van Hoecke and I increased the pace and dropped Ascani in the process not allow Renshaw across. Despite coming to within 5s he just couldn’t get on.

This mean’t it would come down to the 3 of us. Van hoecke still tried one last time to attack in the final km but it wasn’t to be. I had the best legs in sprint beating Boom to the line.

I regard it as my biggest win of my career to date. It really is a magical feeling beating guys like Boom, whom I always admired, to the line.

I am back in South Africa for 2 months now before we go back to Europe for another 6 week stint. I must thank MTN and Doug Ryder for the support and opportunities they have giving us and allowing us to compete in Europe against some of the finest competition in the world.

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 team is struggling with illness and one of our riders, Arran Brown had to sit out. Most of us seem to be battling with a cold.

The race started out crazy and fast. At a point I considred stopping to get some Life Insurance first, no wonder Belgian teams need to pay social security to foreign riders.

A lot of moves got up the road, and Bradley Potgieter did a good job being represented at the front, but where ultimately brought back. Up the muur it was chaos with a full bunch fighting for position 10km before we hit Geraardsbergen. Riders were dropping chains, jamming chaing and running out of talent as the front riders where riding away.

This meant a hard chase on the downhill and flatroads for dropped riders. Most of the riders regrouped before we hit the Bosberg the 2nd time, when a break of 13 rode clear in the crosswinds at the top. A lap later another 10 riders went clear at the same spot, and on the Congoberg, 7km later, I got myself in a 14man splitt that also rode accross. This meant a 37man group at the front.

No one really wanted to work together and the pace was due to relentless attacking. With 2 laps to go a break of 5 rode clear and got nearly to a minute advantage. With the big bunch breathing down our necks, the pace increased again on the Bosberg. In the last lap we could see the 5 man break again, the riders who had the legs jumped clear on the Bosberg and again on the Congoberg, Another 5 joined the 5 in front with another group behind them, some riders in noman’s land and then the group I found myself in, the remnants of the break.

The race was won by Kevin Thome from the Wallonie-Bruxelles team. I won the bunch sprint for the 3rd group to place 24th. No result really, but at least I showed I have good legs for the sprint. I just need the right oppurtunity and soon I have something to smile about.

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.

Being a 1.1 it attracted a lot of good teams, like Astana, Quickstep, Lotto, Cofidis and Vaconsoleil as well as 11 other Proconti teams and 10 Conti teams. The race was 200km long with a few short and steep hills, with quite a tough 26km finishing circuit which we did 3 times.

The race started off relatively tame, considering what Belgium racing could be like at times. Maybe it was due to the headwind. We wanted to have one rider represented in the break, but it was not to be as a break of 4 riders went clear after 30km.

They quickly built up an advantage of 7min, before Astana took responsibility and lifted the tempo quite fast. Astana was intent to bring back the break before the laps to set-up an aggressive race as they didn’t have a real big sprinter.

The lap had a real steep, narrow cobbled climb in, followed by fast swooping roads. Meaning that if you were caught at the back it would almost certainly be game over. We lost 5 riders on the first lap, and another 1 on the second lap.

On the first lap a group of 18 riders moved clear after the first climb on a flat cobbled section. As they were starting to pull away, I managed to jump across with Boy Van Poppel(United-Healthcare) and Michael Kwaitkowski(OmegaPharma-Quickstep). It seemed to be the final move as all riders where prepared to work at first and we opened the advantage to nearly 1minute.

But with a lap and a half to go, the impotence dissapeared as more and more started to struggle and less riders were prepared to contribute to the pace. This ultimately lead to the break’s demise as we were caught with little more than a lap to go.

From there on I was pretty much finished and just hung on the back to finish in the second split. Our Eritrean rider did a real good job in his first race in Europe ever, being our only other rider to finish.

Although not a result I am pretty happy with my performance, especially after 10days in Morocco and a lot of travelling. Our next race is the Rund Om Koln in Germany. Its probably the biggest one on our calendar with a lot of top sprinters going there, like Oscar Friere, Michael Matthews, Theo Bos and JJ Haedo, to name a few.

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.

It was nice racing on Saturday for a change at the Berge en Dale this weekend. It frees the weekend a bit, which give us a bit of time to socialize on saturdays. However it was still a 6am  start and only the distance was only 100km. Its kind of frustrating as everyone always complains about it, but it never changes… Anyway the route is relatively tough….starting up Krugersdorp Hill, up Robert Broom, down Sterkfontein, around the back of Tarlton, past Maropeng and finally a lap of the cradle, with the finish on the uphill drag on the N14. Such a route and finish suits me quite well.

The race started off really fast with Bonitas trying to reduce the field from the outset. It was however early days and with all riders being fresh, their impact was only limited. A lot of moves tried to get clear and after 20km, myself and teammate, Brad Potgieter found ourselves in a 7man group racing off the front. The other riders where Darren Lill, Johann Rabie (Bonitas), Pieter Seyffert (Westvaal-BMC), Dawit Haille (UCI Africa academy) and Nolan Hoffmann (Tasol). It was a strong group, but being far to go to the finish, no one really put their backs into it. We only got a 30s gap which we held for around 25kms, as Toyota-CSA brought it back.

The attacks continued all the way, but no other move was able to get any advantage. Through the cradle the pace increased once again and on each hill the bunch would split and regroup as more and more guys were eliminated, but once again no one could gain any real advantage and a bunch sprint was inevitable. To my surprise the bunch was still rather large (around 40-50 riders) as we approached the final drag up to the finish.

The slight uphill claimed a lot of riders as the bunch completely disintegrated. My team did an excellent in controlling the attacks and Dennis van Niekerk did a good job as final leadout man. The final was like a pure drag race as Herman Fouche (Bonitas) and I were neck and neck, but I managed to pip him in the final few meters.

Berge en Dale was my first race win as an elite, when I beat Daryll Impey to the line, riding for Barloworld in those days. It brought nice memories back to win it again.