Mossel Bay Race Report

 

The PPA league season is about  to begin and Team Cape Storm hopes to begin with a bang! 

 

In order to do some final preparation Team Cape Storm decided to head up the coast to Mossel Bay and take part in the Welstand vir 'n Leeftyd 100km race.

We unfortunately headed out of Cape Town one member short as Neil had picked up a bit of flu and decided against racing.

 

Anyway, the rest of us managed to sneak out of work early and after loading the trailer (thanks to Danny for leanding it to us) the 4 of us were on our way.  We were riding in style in Andre’s GTI and although Neil was missed I must admit it made sitting in the back seat more bearable.

We made good time and arrived in MB with enough time to unpack and go for a loosner before supper.  Our accomodation was at Tredoux’s parents house and thanks must be given to them for making us feel so at home.

 

The talk over supper was centered entirely around the following days race, the route and the unknown competition.  Tredoux’s dad has a wealth of cycling knowledge and shared some with us while at the dinner table.

 

The race the following day only started at 8:30 so it was nice to be able to prepare leasurely for a race for a change.  A short ride to the start and we were ready to go.  The race route was certainly not an easy one and made more difficult by it being unknown to us.  The first 30 km gradually climbed out of Mossel Bay and included one fairly lengthy climb.  It was on this climb that the race broke apart.  Tredoux put in a big attack and split the pack.  Unfortunately Ingram, Andre and myself got a bit caught out by our own teammate and failed to make the split.  The 3 of us however were not far behind and the front pack needed to work hard to keep away from us.  This meant that Tredoux could sit on the back get a fairly easy ride till the turn around point at which the local teams ganged up on him and kept giving him a dead wheel and a gap to close.

 

Andre and I managed eventually to haul in the lead group at the 75km mark.  This point however also coincided with the main climb of the day and we regrouped right at the base of Grootbrak.  Andre pulled an “Erik Dekker” move and shot straight through the bunch and attacked from the bottom of the climb.  Absolute classic move.

 

Tredoux followed the front pack and set about trying to chase down Tiaan Kannemeyer, who had made an early move.  By the top of the climb Tredoux was in the front group, Andre in the second and I was in no mans land.

 

In the final corner Tredoux had a close shave with a car thanks to a sleeping marshal which ended all chances of him claiming a podium position.  All in all it was good preparation for the upcoming season, and a good weekend away.

 

Final Results:

Tredoux           4^th

Andre              9^th

Stuart              12^th

Ingram            16^th

 

There was also a crit that followed far too shortly after the race!  The crit was held on a very short loop that had 2 very sharp hairpin bends in it.  Tredoux managed once again to pick up a 4^th and just miss the podium.