Race Report: Midvaal Vets Tour Stage 2

Today was Stage 2 of the Vets Tour. 101km in length and was 3.5 laps of a circuit around Daleside. No major climbs, just a few drags, so unless the wind blows the bunch is going to stay together.

So far the Tour has been really well run, and really well attended. A lot of the top Vets in the country are here, with Mr. Price even importing a few riders (Dave Garrett and Donovan van Gelder - although Donovan I'm sure is just part of the extended family from KZN, one of the cuzzie's as they would probably say down there).

With Werner Moolman (Mr. Price KZN) in yellow, and being supported by a very solid team, it is up to the rest of us to make the racing - Cyclelab are pretty strong, and Club 100 also have some strong riders.

Absolute Systems/Bulk Pack Meat are in a strong position though, we have 3 riders in the top 6, so this does give us options. I was about 0.4seconds behind Glenn Campbell, and with the time bonuses at the various hotspots and finish, I had my own race to think about as well.

Driving out to the start, the deep south was looking very cold! Fortunately with a 9:00am start, it had warmed up a bit. The team plan was to see if any of us could get into a good move and get ourselves into yellow, after that we would think about what the tactics need to be for the rest of the tour.

Johan and David Labuschagne went out very aggressively. None of the moves were sticking though and we all had our turn at trying to get away. Craig was having no joy with Werner watching his every move! The pace was pretty high, averaging over 40km/h but with no real climbs it was too easy to stay in the bunch. Mr. Price kept things together well, with Dave Garret, Justin Short, and Donovan van Gelder doing plenty work.

The race came down to a bunch sprint with Jock taking the win, James Lauter (spelling?) second and Dave Garret third. Jock also took the sprint prime and KOM prime, so he moves into the Green Jersey.

No major changes to the GC, but I don't have all the results at the moment.

I was feeling okay, not great though. Not having raced for a long time is showing. The power numbers were reasonable. 307w NP for the race (2h30) is hardish, but not too bad - felt harder but then being on antibiotics is not really helping.