“This is the fifth year in a row which the Tour of Boland will be held,” said Cycling South Africa’s road commission director Hendrik Lemmer.

“It was always held a week before or after the Giro to help prepare our elite riders before they leave to compete in Europe.

“Without the Giro, we will now have the new Tour of South Africa, then a week’s break, then the Tour of Boland.

“That should give the guys enough racing time under their belts before they leave to compete overseas.”

The Tour of Boland would be sponsored by Le Coq Sportif International, the organisers said in a statement.

It would be held between March 8 and 12 over a similar route to the Giro, which was cancelled last month because of a lack of funding.

Lemmer said the 2011 Tour of Boland would have national status, but not International Cycling Union (UCI) status, and the organisers would be restricted to only three overseas teams.

The race will consist of five stages, including a short sprint race of 45km on the first day, three road stages of between 120km and 150km, and a hill climb or criterium.

“One of the major objectives of this tour will be the development of cycling in South Africa,” the organisers said.

“There will be a development team from the Cape region competing as the Le Coq Sportif team, as well as the South African Cyclelab Academy Team captained by Nic White.”

The organisers were expecting “all the top club teams in South Africa, UCI teams as well as teams from overseas” to compete in the race.

During these 18 years the prestigious Giro del Capo has provided most local cyclists with their only opportunity to compete against top international cyclists.

Organiser Dave Bellairs described the news as a black day for South African cycling.

“Over the past few months I did everything in my power to try to get a sponsor for the race but it was in vain. No one is interested.”

Bellairs believes the management of Cycling South Africa (CSA) is partly to blame for the cancellation of the Giro.

“As far as I’m concerned, it is a mistake to try and have two international cycling tours within one week in South Africa.”

“This isn’t Europe where you can host big races week after week.”

“The cruel truth is that there is not enough interest in cycling in South Africa.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m very happy that the Tour of South Africa will finally become a reality. That will be an exciting race. I just think that the management of CSA should have thought more about the date of the two races.”

“If it had been my decision, I would have had the one race start just before or after the Argus and the second race just before the 94.7. That is when there is the most interest in cycling in South Africa.”

“The biggest fear that companies had regarding sponsoring the Giro was that the media wouldn’t cover both races equally.”

Despite the setback, Bellairs said he had not completely given up yet.

“The Giro will definitely not take place next year but I have a new idea for the race. Hopefully the Giro will again take place from 2012.

Greg Till, chairperson of CSA, said it was strange to him that Bellairs said two cycling races couldn’t be hosted shortly after each other in South Africa.

“Everyone that we negotiated with in international cycling was very excited at the prospect of taking part in three international races in South Africa in one month – the Giro del Capo, the Tour of South Africa and the Cape Epic.”

“The more races we host in South Africa, the better it is for cycling. I just think we have to be realistic. The economy isn’t what it should be at the moment.”

One of the early starters was a young rider from Johannesburg riding as part of the South African national team who set a blistering time for the course to take pole position on the leader board.

With most of the tour  favourites only starting later on in the day, it would only be a matter of time before his moment of glory would end. But by the end of the day, Nicholas White would still own the fastest time and be the proud wearer of the leader’s jersey at the beginning of a memorable and dramatic Rapport Tour.

Nic has certainly come a long way since that day over fifteen years ago and is now one of the elder statesmen of SA cycling. As a professional cyclist for Team Medscheme, he has certainly had his fair share of ups and downs.

CRANK recently caught up with the charismatic White who is on his way back to full fitness after an injury-plagued few months.

Ever the teammate, Nic paces fellow Medscheme rider Malcolm Lange at the head of the bunch

CRANK: You had a bad accident in the Joberg2C MTB race. How long were you off the bike and could you tell us a bit about your recovery and subsequent rehabilitation?

Nic White: It was a little fall, but hard and due to falling on the wrong place, I had an impacted fracture of my femur neck, which meant they had to put a few screws in to hold the bone together while it healed. I had to walk with crutches for 10 weeks, and then after 12 weeks I could ride again. No driving, no weight on my leg for all that time was a bit tough, but it is feeling better now, and my strength is returning to the leg. Some small exercises have helped to keep my muscles in a bit of tone, making the return a bit quicker.

CRANK: With you having been a past category winner of the ABSA Cape Epic, do you have any inclination to make a competitive return to the event in the future?

NW: I would like to ride the ABSA Cape Epic again, and being close to the Masters category, perhaps I will have a warm up year or two, and then give that a bash. I think that it is the ultimate in MTB stage racing in this country.

CRANK: Having been an elite cyclist for almost two decades, what are your impressions of our younger pros of today? How would you compare them to the days of Engelbrecht, McClean etc?

NW: There are some good youngsters these days, but things have changed, and the races are different to the older days. There were some harder races then, and more chances to ride tours. That is what is lacking in today’s calendar locally.

CRANK: In a previous article with Hendrik Lemmer, he alluded to the advent of National Service as a great breeding ground for his generation of riders. Having been in the army yourself, could you tell us about your days in Defence Cycling? Who were your riding contemporaries in “die Mag?”

NW: I was in the SADF in 1992, and there were a good group of riders that year. They say that in the years when there was two years conscription, the Defence cycling team was a lot stronger. But we still had some opportunities and good fun. One of the strongest riders of that year was Blayne Wickner, but there must have been about twenty good riders in my year.

CRANK: You were part of a group of highly talented young riders in the mid-1990s, which co-incidentally were also the twilight days of the Engelbrecht/McClean era. How difficult was it for you guys to secure a place on a European team in those days? Did the older pros ever act as mentors/advisors to you young guys?

NW: It was quite difficult in those years to get into the ‘pro’ teams. There was a big gap, but what I did was try my luck in Belgium for a few years. I had some help from the older guys, Andrew Mclean had helped me to get into a setup in the beginning, and I stayed with a good friend of Alan Van Heerden and also had some help from Robbie Mcintosh’s Belgian friend. After that first year I managed to find my way a bit further, and with new opportunities, but never in the four seasons that I spent with clubs in Belgium did I get to a consistent level to be noticed properly by a pro team. I may have tried longer, but with the difficulties of visa’s and cash flow, I had eventually had enough!

CRANK: With the confirmation of a new Tour South Africa for 2011, one is reminded of the glory days of its predecessor, the Rapport Tour. Having competed in several Rapport Tours, what were the highlights and lowlights for you in this event?

NW: I had some special moments in the Rapport Tours. I worked for the Southern Sun/M-Net team in 1993 as a helper and driver. I gained valuable experience helping Willie Engelbrecht, Mark and Gary Beneke, Fransie Kruger and Steven Wolhuter.

(Side Note: The 1993 edition of the Rapport Tour was the first year where top amateur teams began competing in the event officially, whereas previously various Europeans competed under pseudonyms due to the sporting boycotts.

1993 also marked the inclusion of the German National team who had managed to enter both and “A” and a “B” side, including their entire Olympic 100km team time trial squad which had won gold in Barcelona the previous year. While officially competing as two separate teams, they were in reality one 10-man team which took on the lone South African GC hopeful Andre McClean. With only marginal help from his fellow SA riders, the plucky McClean fought right to the end enduring constant switching maneuvers, eventually succumbing to the German juggernaut to finish a valiant third overall in Nelspruit.)

I raced it the next year and finished top 10 overall, and then managed in 1995 to win the prologue, and have the yellow jersey for a day (taken by a young Robbie McEwen who won the next stage!)

In 1996 I managed to crash out in the second stage, riding in the Deo Gloria team with Andrew Mclean. That was a low point for my Rapport Tour career. In 1999 I won the first stage and took the jersey for a few days, eventually finishing 3rd overall. In 2000, the last of the Rapport Tours, I was about 6th overall, but we won the team competition with the HSBC team!

Stage win in the now defunct Rapport Tour, 1999

CRANK:The Rapport Tour certainly played host to several of today’s international cycling superstars back when they where young amateur riders, most notably the likes of Jan Ulrich, Robbie McEwen etc. But there were also several unknown overseas riders who would dominate such a tour and later fade into obscurity as professionals. Could you tell us about the Swedish rider Michael Andersson who ripped the legs off everybody in the 1995 Tour?

NW: Michael Andersson was a special rider. He won the Rapport Tour in dominant fashion, and then went on to win the Giro and also the Argus if I remember correctly. He rode away up Suikerbossie with three Kazakh riders (including a young Alexandre Vinokourov) and then won the sprint too! He never made it to the top in big teams in Europe, but I am not too sure the reasons – his few weeks in SA that year were very special.

(Side Note: Interestingly, Andersson was almost completely blind in one eye riding with a permanent squint. He would later win a silver medal in the World Time Trial Championships in 1999, riding for a small Danish outfit called Team Acceptcard after turning pro with a Portuguese outfit in 1995).

The Swedish rider, Michael Andersson

CRANK: How important is being part of a National team selection to you for overseas tours and world championships? Does this ever create a conflict of interest between sponsors and the federation? Is their a good team spirit on these National teams?

NW: I have had great chances to race tours and a few world championships with the National team. I have also had some great results like that, but what sometime occurs these days, are National team races that take place at a similar time as other local races.  Local sponsors pay riders year round, keeping them in competition and supporting them. There is always a choice that has to be made in these situations, and mostly, the riders will support the teams that pay them to ride all year long for important local objectives, instead of becoming available for a once off national team opportunity.

Back in 1994, a few of us who had ridden for the National team in that years Rapport Tour were selected to ride the Rhineland Phalz Tour in Germany, which was a leading amateur race in July. The team consisted of Doug Ryder, Malcolm Lange, Moolman Welgemoed, Mark Blewett and myself.

We had been racing in different places: I had been in Belgium with my club setup, Malcolm was also in Belgium, while Doug, Mark and Moolman had been spending time in Germany. This tour we started was a top level race, fielding many National teams. There were scouts from various professional teams looking out for new talent as well, so the competition was fierce. Our great early year performances of the Rapport Tour had passed and we were now just “cannon fodder”, with the notable exception Doug Ryder, who had great form and was up there (eventually finishing 14th overall).

Moolman lasted 7 kilometers in the race, getting dropped from the bunch in the first stage, and never regained contact, much to the amusement of the rest of us. But the jokes did not last long, as we were dropping out of the tour one after the other. The speed was intense along with the difficulties of negotiating our way around the bunch. It was always a big fight. The windy gutter sections were terrible, and when we hit the hills we were flat out, maxed, and struggled. Mark soon had a bug or something, and stopped. Then it was Malcolm’s turn. I think I lasted another two days. I battled in the bunch, so my task was to fetch bottles for Doug, take them to the front for him, where he was riding, and then wait at the back again till the next opportunity for bottles! With about two days remaining, I got dropped in a large group with riders who had been riding well in the tour, and placing in stages, but as they race so many races they weren’t interested in riding to stay in the race. So after our gap to the bunch got to five minutes, we were pulled off as the roads would re-open soon after the bunch passed. That is how I exited the race, in good company – but out!

I could not ride on alone, as I was not strong enough, but in Europe they just pull you off! For the Europeans there is always another race, and that is how they treat it. For us with a National team opportunity – maybe only one of that year, it was sad to stop, but you have to be strong enough to stay up front. And at 20years old, I was just not up to it.

In the deep end: The SA National Team, Germany 1994. L-R: Douglas Ryder, Mark Blewett, Nic White, Malcolm Lange

CRANK: Getting back to your current career, you conduct MTB tours in Lesotho and Europe in addition to being a pro cyclist. Tell us about how this idea came about and what being a tour operator entails.

NW: I have had some fun in taking people on biking tours, and the idea came about from the JHB to Durban rides developed by the Benekes, Mark and Gary. I can think of nothing more enjoyable than riding a bike from one destination to another, and experiencing all that can bee seen and felt from the bike along the way. I have had some nice experiences in Lesotho, and decided with a few mates to make a trip through a place that is not easy to do, and then we got started. A good friend of mine, Ken Hill, from Drifters is also passionate about bike touring, so we have come about with some of these ideas together. We did a trip to Switzerland last year, MTB through the Alps, and a day at the Tour de France! It was a great experience, and we had a lot of fun.

I am planning another tour through Lesotho this year in early December, and each time you ride through the high mountains, the experience is a different one. Weather, riders, and atmosphere are always changing, but it always an interesting experience to do it!

Giro del Capo 2000: On his way to the overall victory, Nic scales the steepest part of the infamous hill climb time trial up Signal Hill

CRANK: Your articles in RIDE magazine about the various tours like the Giro del Capo, are very interesting giving the reader a great insight into the race as well as life behind the scenes. Do you keep a daily log of events in order to give such a graphic description of an event like the Giro del Capo? Could you ever see yourself working as a sports journalist?

NW: I don’t keep a daily log of the races that I do, or cover, but seem to have a good memory for some things, or be able to tell the story, or interesting parts of it. I am not sure if I could be a sports journalist, but you never know… I get to write some stories now and then when I get a chance, so perhaps I am already doing that!

http://www.nicwhite.co.za/

Read on to find out about this busy guy who juggles professional MTB racing with team management duties.

CRANK: Could you tell us a bit about how this year’s ABSA Cape Epic went for you?

Erik Kleinhans: Unfortunately my team mate, Oliver Munnik, got really sick and we battled through the event, testing and building our friendship!

Pulling out became a reality, but Oliver showed some incredible courage and we finished, and that with a 16th position on the last day after he recovered.

(Side Note: Oliver unfortunately suffered a bad accident during a national cross-country race shortly after the 2010 Cape Epic. The good news is that he is making a solid recovery – we look forward to seeing you back Ollie!)

Erik during 2010 Absa Cape Epic. Courtesy Sven Martin

CRANK: What did you do on the Monday after the Epic?

EK: Dominated loads of coffee at Basic Bistro in Stellenbosch and enjoyed the view!

CRANK: You competed in the Giro del Capo as you have for several years. How did this go and do you feel that a lot of road racing is beneficial for MTB in general?

EK: I did plenty of road racing in the past and still love to line up on the road. The Giro del Capo was the last bit of training for the Epic and always tough with only one days rest between it, the Sani2C and the Pick ‘n Pay Cape Argus MTB Challenge.

Joining the “roadies” is great speed work and I do think it adds something to your mountain bike riding.

CRANK: You won the Amarider 100 miler in adverse conditions last year. What were your impressions of this event and will you be back this year?

EK: Probably my most satisfactory victory ever in such hectic conditions! Everyone who finished the 2009 100-miler must be proud. Meurant and Arina Botha always organise a great event so I will definitely be back to race on 22 May 2010.

Erik on his way to winning 2009 100 miler - Courtesy Oakpics

CRANK: You and Oliver were one of the few elite teams staying in the tents at this year’s Cape Epic. Do you feel that this was detrimental to your performance or, on the flip side, was it nice to be part of the “vibe” of the event?

EK: We are quite used to roughing it a bit, so it’s not that bad for us to stay in the tents, and we do like to be part of the “vibe”. But we did get fantastic support and accommodation from Oliver’s folks the last four days and I think it assisted with our recovery. It definitely helped a lot to get Ollie back on his legs and race ready after his illness.

CRANK: What was your daily routine like during the Cape Epic?

EK: We wake up at 04:50 as most participants get up at 05:00 then we always beat the queue to the porter-loos! (Hope I did not just give away our most valuable strategy…)

Breakfast directly after followed by getting dressed and a 20min warm-up before the start – and then SUFFER!!!!!

After the stage our Omnico mechanics, Russel and Werner, take our bikes and do their magic, Janine and Liné mend our tender legs, while we eat everything that we can lay our hands on.

Relax as much as possible in the afternoon and get into bed between 8pm and 9pm.

Erik racing Attakwas - Courtesy Torquepics

CRANK: How do you combine your team management role with riding? Have you ever had to work full time while competing as an elite rider?

EK: I was the stock controller and marketing coordinator at Omnico for two and a half years till the end of last year – it’s not easy working full time and trying to race competitively, but it is possible.

Now I work from home assisting Carinus Lemmer putting together a Cycling Academy in Stellenbosch and also managing our team activities – it is time consuming but I do have more time and at least I can do all my training in daylight!

CRANK: What are your plans for the rest of the year?

EK: We get paid to race our bikes, so for the rest of the year we will do everything from small local races to the big national races to get maximum exposure for our sponsors, Mr Price and GT Bicycles. Awesome!

CRANK: Do you have any interaction with the other pro’s?

EK: Living in such close proximity during the Epic you do get to see the other pro’s regularly, but mostly just for a short chat as everyone is on their own mission to get food and recovery. It is great though to be around the world’s best riders for the week.

CRANK: Any overseas aspirations?

EK: Yes, I would love pinning it abroad with the best marathon racers in the world, but before I would consider that I still need to elevate myself to a slightly higher level in our local National Marathon Series. Let’s hold thumbs.

Erik at the Cape Pioneer - Courtesy Oakpics

XC racing - Courtesy Darren Goddard

Sani2C - Courtesy Line Griffiths

Digging deep into his physical and mental reserves after three
days of gruelling road stages, the 34-year-old riding for team
SAfindit.co.za took full advantage of a stiff tailwind on the steep
climb from Camp’s Bay High School to the top of Signal Hill to
shatter the record he set in 2002 by 13 seconds for a new best time
of 11 minutes, 47 seconds.

Chasing him for the title for the four-stage Giro and after
425.5km of racing were last weekend’s Sani2C Mountainbike Challenge
winner, Kevin Evans (MTN), who had the second fastest time on
Friday of 11:57, and world Under-23 mountainbike champion Burry
Stander (Team Specialized) with the third fastest time of 12:13.

It is a remarkable fact that the first three places were filled
by recognised mountainbike riders, with George first in an overall
race time of 10 hours, 32 minutes and 26 seconds, Evans second in
10:32:37 and Stander third in 10:32:38.

Tiaan Kannemeyer of Durban’s Team House of Paint was fourth in
10:33:52 followed by three Medscheme riders – Waylon Woolcock
(10:33:59), Hanko Kachelhoffer (10:34:00) and Nicholas White
(10:34:03).

George, who won the country’s only international stage race
three times on the trot in 2002, 2003 and 2004 said he had waited
six long years for his fourth Giro title but that it was worth the
wait.

“When I woke up this morning and checked the wind direction and
saw it was a south-westerly I sensed that this was a good omen for
me as this was how it was when I set the record eight years ago,”
George said.

He added that the main focus at this stage of his career is the
eight-day Absa Cape Epic Mountainbike Challenge at the end of this
month.

“We only put a team together for the Giro at the last moment and
I wasn’t all that confident going into it, but I am extremely happy
to have pulled it off,” George said.

“I was lying third overall last night after the third stage, 14
seconds behind Burry, so I had to at least wipe out that deficit on
the time trial.

“That I not only did that but actually beat him by 12 seconds
and Kevin by 10 seconds required a big effort from me.”

l-r Burry Stander, David George, Kevin Evans

The race boiled down to a group sprint of just over 20 riders, and this is how the stage from Paarl unfolded:

A small group escaped early, on the way into Franschoek before the first of the day’s two big climbs. Then over the top of Franschoek Pass the group consolidated and five riders eventually opened their gap over the bunch. The front riders: Michael Pepper (House of Paint), Jock Green (DCM), Dylan Girdlestone (MTN), Malcolm Lange (Medscheme) and David Garret (Daikin Gu).

MTN were taking responsibility for the pace of the bunch, as Garret was the nearest challenger to their General Classification (GC), at just less than 4 minutes from the lead. Meanwhile, Lange was gobbling up the hotspots in the break, and won the two available, to take the lead again in the Pickfords Points competition.

Back in the bunch, MTN’s Kevin Evans made sure that he increased his lead in the Powerade King of the Mountains Competition and sealed it from Waylon Woolcock and Burry Stander with an impressive display on the peaks.

In the front the break was gaining ground, while there was a lull in the bunch, and with 70kms remaining, the leaders had almost seven minutes advantage! The pressure fell onto team Specialized to control the gap, who then kept the pace high, until with just 50kms remaining, MTN decided to reduce the gap leading up to the final big climb of the day – Du Toitskloof Pass.

a long day on the bike, riders need plenty of backup from supporting team vehicles

The leaders were almost in sight once the peleton reached the lower slopes of Du Toits, and by half way, only Garret and Girdlestone remained in front. Christophe Sauser kept the pace high for Stander, and a small acceleration over the top split the front group a little more, leaving only Girdlestone clear up ahead. The long descent was not a good place for a lone rider just a few seconds in front of a chasing bunch, and soon, the MTN rider was absorbed into the group.

It looked certain that a sprint would decide the race, but DCM tried last minute attacks with Pieter Seyffert and Jeremy Maartens in the final run into to Paarl. These did not have their desired effect, and a full group arrived into the final kilometer to contest the sprint.

Sauser led up until the final 500m, and then I opened up the sprint. Stander in the leaders pink jersey had his sights set on the finish and kicked off White’s wheel, but Kachelhoffer was in close proximity, and fought his way off the Specialized mountainbiker’s wheel, drawing alongside, and just getting ahead by the line to secure his first Giro stage win! Jacques Janse van Rensburg of DCM rounded off the podium for the day. Kachelhoffer moves ahead into second on the GC, and Stander increases his lead due to some time bonuses for the stage.

The final day of the race is a time trial with a difference, and has become an institution for the Giro del Capo. It is the Signal Hill time trial of 5.5km! This stage which had always featured as the penultimate of final stage, as always suited a certain type of rider, and only only a few occasions have there been ‘upsets’ in terms of surprise winners.

To excel in this race, riders need to have good climbing skills along with a great time trailing ability. This stage will decide the winner again, as the three stages prior have only managed to separate the first 8 riders by 31 seconds, so there is everything to race for up the hill!

Courtesy Nicholas White

Today Burry Stander claimed today’s stage victory with Evans in third. Evans is now also leading the King of the mountains competition.

It is not an impossible goal. Evans is at the moment in fantastic form and lying second on the general classification behind fellow mountain biker Stander.

During the past four weeks he won not only the individual time trial at the South African Road Championship, but the SA Ultra-marathon title as well.

But, to borrow a phrase from a famous television advert, “that is not all”.  During the past weekend Evans won the Sani2C Mountain Bike Tour in KwaZulu-Natal for a record fourth time. What is surprising about Evans’s Sani2C victories is that he did it with a different partner every time.

The important question now is ‘How long will Evans’s good form last?’

He is confident that he will be at his best until the last stage of the Cape Epic.

When I sat down with dr. Carol Austin to do my race planning for this year, our main focus was to ensure that I would be at my best during the period starting with the SA Road Championship and ending with the Cape Epic.

“I owe a lot of my racing success to dr. Austin. I started training scientifically for the first time during the past four years. I have learnt that it is the small things that make a big difference in the end.”

The Giro del Capo will in all probability be won or lost on Friday during the 5.5km hill-climb time trial up Signal Hill.

As the SA time-trial champion, Evans is really looking forward to the challenge.

“Winning the time trial up Signal Hill has for a long time been a goal of mine. Last year it was not part of the Giro. The year before I did not do the Giro due to a knee problem and three years ago I was too heavy to assert myself.

“What will be special for me about Friday’s time trial, is that it will probably be the only time this year that I will be able to wear my SA time-trial jersey. It will certainly serve as extra motivation.

“For me to have a realistic chance of winning the Giro overall, means that I will have to stay out of trouble during the first three days. Luckily my team-mates are committed to do their best to protect me.”

Going back to Evan’s Sani2C victories, his first victory was with Mannie Heymans, then Brandon Stewart, followed by a victory with David George and this year it was with Alban Lakata from Austria with whom he is also going to do the Cape Epic.

Lakata and Evans won two of the three stages of the Sani2C.

According to Evans the most exciting aspect of riding with Lakata is that they function well together as a team.

“OK, I have to admit that we have not really been tested to our limits, but I am confident that we will also be able to ‘gel’ when the going gets really tough.”

David George (Safindit.co.za Invitation) just managed to hold off Kevin Evans (MTN Energade) in the sprint, and they finished second and third respectively.

“Today’s race conditions were ideal. It was overcast and a little humid, but with no wind,” said David Bellairs, Co-Director of the Cape Town Cycle Tour Trust.

Tomorrow at 09h30 cyclists set off on a 171km race from Market Street, Paarl.

Stage 2 Results for the Pick n Pay Cape Argus Giro del Capo:

1. Burry Stander – Team Specialized (3.21.53)
2. David George – Safindit.co.za (3.21.53)
3. Kevin Evans – MTN Energade (3.21.53)

Pickford Points:
1. Burry Stander (Team Specialized) 14
2. Rene Haselbacher (Safindit.co.za Invitation) 13
3. Malcolm Lange (Team Medscheme) 11

Powerade King of the Mountains:
1. Kevin Evans (MTN Energade) 30 pts
2. Waylon Woolcock (Team Medscheme) 25 pts
3. Burry Stander (Team Specialized) 19 pts

Courtesy cyclingnews.co.za

Malcolm Lange (Team Medscheme) and Burry Stander (Team Specialized) came second and third respectively.

“It was a good first day. The race started off a little wet. There were very nasty crosswinds during the first 40kms and this split the bunch up quite a bit,” commented David Bellairs, Co-Director of the Cape Town Cycle Tour Trust.

The 106km circular route is a constant climb and provided the 20 teams participating in the Giro with a tough start to the week.

Today cyclists set off at 09h00 from Vissershok Road, Durbanville for a 143km race.

The Stage 1 Results for the Pick n Pay Cape Argus Giro del Capo are as follows:

1. Rene Haselbacher – Team Safindit.co.za Invitation (2.30.40)
2. Malcolm Lange – Team Medscheme (2.30.41)
3. Burry Stander – Team Specialized (2.30.46)

Pickford Points:
1. Malcolm Lange (Team Medscheme) 11
2. Rene Haselbacher (Team Safindit.co.za Invitation) 10
3. Burry Stander (Team Specialized) 4

Powerade King of the Mountains:
1. Waylon Woolcock (Team Medscheme) 12 pts
2. David George (Team Safindit.co.za Invitation) 10 pts
3. Burry Stander (Team Specialized) 8 pts

courtesy cyclingnews.co.za

“The Giro has been cast a lifeline by Pick n Pay. They will provide some of the financial support required in order to ensure this much-loved event remains on the 2010 cycling calendar,” Bellairs said.

The 2010 Pick n Pay Giro del Capo presented by Cape Argus is a four-day national stage race which will be run between March 9-12. Entries for the 20 teams – 17 local and three international – are by invitation only.

“The 2010 Giro will not enjoy international status because we missed the UCI’s deadline to register the Giro on their international cycling calendar, as we were unable to do so without a sponsor,” said Bellairs.

“We will, however, continue to explore all possible avenues in order to secure a title sponsor for the Giro del Capo. I am determined for the Giro to again be recognised by the UCI in 2011.”