Before getting into a race report, I'd just like to comment on some of the events leading up to the race which were disappointing to say the least.
The team I race for is Cyclelab SuperCycling - Powered by Toyota. Which represents the largest cycling club in the country. The club was founded by Andrew Mclean, who is a world class cyclist that at the age of 45 can more than hold his own in Elite categories. A few years ago, he attended Worlds, and did not win his age category. So, the next day he rode in a younger category and won it! He is a high profile person, and does a lot of media work. Being a high profile person, he is subject to the tall poppy syndrome and can be the target of abuse at times.
At Nationals, that abuse spilled over into obsession, which was totally uncalled for and leaves a bad taste. Nationals this year was held in Oudtshoorn, a small town in the Klein Karoo about 70km from George. For most of the participants, this meant a significant journey, and a number of days away from home if you wanted to compete in both the timetrial and the road race. For amateur riders, this is a significant commitment. Andrew requested, and was granted, permission from Cycling South Africa to compete in his own age group (45-49) and the younger age group (40-44) in which most of his team compete. He also rode in the timetrial in the 45-49 age group. He had to pay entry fees for both events.
The 45-49 age group race was on Saturday afternoon, and the 40-44 age group race was on Sunday morning, less than 18 hours later. On the Friday, we were informed that a formal complaint had been lodged against him racing two races. Officials from CSA met on Friday night, and ruled that Andrew must chose which category he wanted to race in, but he could not race in both. After trying unsuccessfully to get an earlier flight back home, Andrew decided to race in the younger age category, with the rest of the team. On Saturday night, we were told that some of the riders were organising a signed petition to try to prevent Andrew from racing on Sunday morning, and when we got to the start one of the officials told us that he had overheard threats being made. One of the 45-49 riders, Jorge Faria, made a public speech at the start line, saying that Andrew was violating the rules as he had ridden the 45-49 timetrial, so he could not take part in the 40-44 road race, even though the officials had made a ruling on the issue. Why he was wearing his riding kit, as well as his numbers I don't know!
The 45-49 age group race was on Saturday afternoon, and the 40-44 age group race was on Sunday morning, less than 18 hours later. On the Friday, we were informed that a formal complaint had been lodged against him racing two races. Officials from CSA met on Friday night, and ruled that Andrew must chose which category he wanted to race in, but he could not race in both. After trying unsuccessfully to get an earlier flight back home, Andrew decided to race in the younger age category, with the rest of the team. On Saturday night, we were told that some of the riders were organising a signed petition to try to prevent Andrew from racing on Sunday morning, and when we got to the start one of the officials told us that he had overheard threats being made. One of the 45-49 riders, Jorge Faria, made a public speech at the start line, saying that Andrew was violating the rules as he had ridden the 45-49 timetrial, so he could not take part in the 40-44 road race, even though the officials had made a ruling on the issue. Why he was wearing his riding kit, as well as his numbers I don't know!
Andrew asked for a show of hands from those riders that felt he should not be riding. Quite a few people raised their hands, so he withdrew from the race. I was shocked and amazed at the behaviour of the riders. This is amateur sport, which is more about participation than winning. Anyway, the race started with a long neutral zone. Apparently the officials tried to contact Andrew to persuade him to race, but he had already left the start area. About 10km into the race, Andre Morse (Club 100) attacked off the front. First bit of bad luck, my teammate Issy Zimmerman punctured and was not able to use the wheels in the neutral support vehicle because they were Shimano. A short while later, Morse was joined by Daniel Schmeisser (Cycles Direct) and they opened a nice gap. The course is a 54km loop, with a long climb split into 3 sections. Riding the course the day before, it was clear that if the wind was blowing, the course would be very tough. The first part of the climb saw the bunch staying together, but things started to happen on the second part. Danie Marais (Mr. Price) went hard, with about 6 or 7 riders on his wheel. About 2/3 of the way up the climb, he started to slow, and Graeme Cronje (Ocean Basket) kicked on. The bunch was in pieces down the short descent, then Graeme kicked again on the third part of the climb. He opened up a gap which I was not able to close, and when I turned around, I only had Gary Marescia (Cyclelab/SuperCycling/Toyota) with me. He was already deep in the red, so also wasn't able to close the gap to Graeme. The gap of a few seconds stayed that way for a while, then Graeme started to open it up and bridge across to the two riders already up the road. At this point I was on my own, and knowing that Graeme was in good form, decided to sit up and let the small bunch behind me catch up to me.
The chase group formed (about 10 riders) with John o' Connor & Guy Pike (Daikin Gu) and Robbie Setton (Velo Atlantico) doing a lot of work to try to bring the break back. Looking at my power stats, I did a peak 1min of 660w when trying to catch Graeme initially. I needed to recover a bit, so I tried to hide in the group until we finished the first lap. The gap opened to nearly 2 minutes, and was becoming concerning. We needed to chase, but with the wind now having picked up, the climb was going to be hard. Fortunately, as we hit the climb we found that the break had lost one of it's riders. After the first part of the climb, Andre Morse came back. A bit further, Daniel Schmiesser was also dropped by Graeme, so he was now alone. But with 30km left to go, I thought he would be capable of staying away unless a proper chase happened. A few minor attacks on the second part of the climb came, but nothing serious. I decided that I had to commit and had nothing to lose. Robbie Setton (Velo Atlantico) and I drove the pace really hard. I had a duel purpose, firstly to try to get rid of some of the riders who were sitting in and not getting involved in the chase, and secondly to catch Graeme. I was feeling really good, and we were able to drive it really hard.
We caught Graeme with about 15km to go, and kept the pace as high as possible. Looking at the riders still in the bunch, I felt that Deon Coetzee (Tony Impey Cycles) was probably the biggest threat in a sprint. I planned to get his wheel in the final corner with 200m to go for the line. Unfortunately, more bad luck! With about 3km to go I punctured and that was the end of my race! I was feeling really good as well!
Deon went on to take the win from Mark Linnington (Club 100) and John o' Connor (Daikin/Gu). Congrats Deon!!
Power stats for the race can be viewed at http://tinyurl.com/mu7t5v
Power stats for the race can be viewed at http://tinyurl.com/mu7t5v
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