Telkom Satellite Challenge

Even though maby road races have declining numbers, this race is still growing. This is despite the fact that the last 20km are some of the toughest to be found in Gauteng racing. The continued growth can only be due to the fact that the race is such a well organised one.

The only negative from the race was news of a bad crash apparently in A bunch. From what I heard, there was a fall within the bunch, and a rider swerved to avoid and went onto the wrong side of the road, colliding with a car. I don't know who the rider was, but hoping that he is okay!

The main obstacle in this race is Hekpoort, a climb that starts at about 20km to go, and is just over 3 km long at around 7% gradient. This is long enough that there can be no hiding, and close enough to the finish that if you can get away here, you have a real chance of getting to the finish and winning.

Our plan was for me to get away in a break and make it to Hekpoort with a bit of a gap on the bunch. My race would start at Hekpoort and I planned to try to get away from the break up Hekpoort. Andrew would attack the main bunch at Hekpoort and depending on the time gap, bridge across to me and we'd go for the finish. If I could stay away then all would be good anyway.

Well, that plan didn't happen. I was being well marked and DiData were making all the attacks, trying to force us into a long chase. The pattern repeated a number of times. Didata would attack, if I responded there would be plenty of guys on my wheel, and it would all come back together. So, change in tactic was required. A move went off the front, and I said to Kevin Prinsloo that he should go for it. He went and the bunch let it go a bit. The break got to 4 strong, but did not seem to gel well so it came back after 5km or so.

Approaching the dam, an attack went off, I responded with Danie Marais. As I got across, the break sat up, so I counter attacked and now had a nice gap on the bunch. Two more riders came across, Mervyn Scorgie and one other. This forced a big chase for a few km's as DiData did not have representation. It all came back together going over the dam, and Jackie van Eeden (DiData) attacked. The bunch was already strung out, and a small group responded to Jackie's attack. Andrew was amongst this group, and going up a short drag, he saw that the bunch had broken up. He accelerated away and joined Jackie. Too late for everybody else and they were away. For us this was perfect, as we know Jackie would not be able to hold onto Andrew up Hekpoort, and Andrew was more that capable of staying away to the finish.

Disappointingly, the bunch threw in the towel without a fight. Shane Brown (DiData) did his best to get a chase going, sensing that unless they brought Andrew back immediately, the race would be over. A little while later, Boss Logistics (without Anton Duvenhage), started chasing for a bit, but nobody coordinated anything. I really don't understand this, because there were enough teams to put together a proper chase - DiData, V&A, Boss Logistics, and some strong individuals like Danie Marais, Deon Coetzee, etc. Andrew would have had to do all the work, and Jackie would have been able to just sit in. A 50km TT prior to Hekpoort would have taken some of the sting out of Andrew and who knows?? Seems like the guys are happy to race for second place.

Various people came and went off the front, and after about 20km DiData started chasing a bit more. I was waiting for Hekpoort. I was not feeling good at all, having had some oral surgery this week, I was very flat. Hekpoort duly arrived, and I just set a really hard pace. Gary Beneke and Shane Brown come with, but the rest of the bunch quickly disappeared. Shane eventually popped close to the top, but Gary stayed with. At the top, Gary looked to see if Shane would re-join, but I decided to keep the pace going and prevent that from happening. Gary saw that Shane was not going to re-join us, and started sharing the effort to get to the finish line. At this point we thought we were racing for third place, because we had not picked up Jackie at all.

There is one last opportunity to make a move. A short sharp climb just before the finish line. Getting over the top with a gap would enable me to get into the finish straight in front. There is a short descent and a 90deg left hander into the finish - coming about 100m later. It is important to get into the turn first. I attacked Gary but did not have enough of a kick to shake him. He countered and I got caught out in the wrong gear.

In the meantime, Andrew had solo'd to the finish 6 minutes ahead of us! Catching and overtaking the VA bunch in the process. We also found out that we were racing for second as Jackie had cramped and was still somewhere out on the course.

So, a well deserved win for Andrew, Gary taking second and I got third.

Power numbers for the day were better than I expected - averaging 354w NP for the race. But I was not feeling sharp at all.

Just heard that the rider involved in the accident is Anton Pretorius, and Cyclelab Pretoria member. He is in a critical condition in Sunninghill hospital. Thoughts go out to his wife Roanne and family!!