Race report from the Bouckaert Soenen League and Funride.
With temperatures the day before reaching the forties it was pleasant to wake up to coolish conditions.
The standings on the general classification had a big effect on the tactics employed by the 2 leading teams Daikin and and Cape Town Market. Daikin wanted a break to go away, while Cape Town Market wanted it to come down to a bunch sprint to give Stefan Ihlenfeld, who is lying 2nd overall, a chance for his 3rd race win in a row.
There was only one major obstacle on the route and that was the climb of Botmanskloof pass that came at around the 50 km mark. The bunch did split over this climb but with over 70km in the race remaining the pace in the front group slowed enough for the majority of the bunch to regroup.
It was then a case of attacks trying to get away but in each case being brought back by the large team of Cape Town market. I managed to get away in a small group at the 100km mark which at stages looked promising but after about 10km's it too was brought back.
At just over 5 km to go a big attack was launched on the narrow Agter Paarl road. Neil sensing that such an attack would be made had positioned himself perfectly near the front of the pack to be able to respond and went away with about 5 others. They quickly opened up a gap and at some stages it looked to be a successful move. Credit must go to Cape Town Market though who worked very hard to get things back together and brought them back with less than 2 km to go.
The finish was always going to be a fast one and getting a good position around the right hand turn off Paarl's main road was going to be crucial if a good position was to be achieved. It took some risks to get near the front of the pack while bouncing along the manhole filled main road but luck was on my side and managed to go around the corner in the top 10. With sprinting not being my strongest point it was a nice feeling when the legs responded and I managed to come past a couple of the riders before the line.
Stefan Ihlenfeldt managed to win his 3rd race in a row and with the bonus seconds moves closer to Ryan Kemp and the Pink Jersey.
Winning Time: 3:04:20
- Stefan Ihlenfedt - Cape Town Market
- Dean Hopf - Cycle Lab
- Pierre Henri Olivier
- Stuart Strang - CAPESTORM
- Alex Heward - Olympic Cycles
Stuart
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