Tour de Boland can grow
2007-02-22
IT proved a very successful weekend for the cycling team of CSC/Marcello as team rider Chris Willemse Jnr won both the Tour de Boland and the 115km Bouckaert Soenen cycling race.
The inaugural Tour de Boland which took place in and around Paarl, started on Thursday with a windy 2,8km hill climb at the Taalmonument.
Pumping the hardest on the pedals was Craig Butland of Mr Price who won the stage with a time of 7 minutes 37 seconds.
CSC/Marcello rider Jeremy Maartens was hot on Butland’s heels in a time of 07:40 whilst Chris Willemse finished in third spot two seconds behind Maartens.
Another strong contender, Erik Kleinhans of the GT/Edu Loan Matie team finished fourth in 07:48.
A visiting rider from England, John Charlesworth, won the veteran category after clocking a time of 08:19.
With Butland wearing the yellow jersey for the second stage of 100km, the race got underway in Klein Drakenstein Road.
From the start it was clear that the riders meant business with fierce attacks coming from CSC/Marcello and GT/Edu Loan Matie teams.
It was eventually Willemse who got away over the last 15km and finished in first position with a great solo ride.
Kleinhans was racing hard, leading the chasing bunch, but could not bridge the gap.
CSC/Marcello made it three out of three when Garth Thomas and team-mate Abdelbasat Hanachi finished second and third respectively.
His victory on day two secured Willemse a 37 seconds lead.
On Saturday the riders had to negotiate a 80km road race at Paardeberg which was split into two circuits of 40km each.
Michael van Staden (GT/Edu Loan Maties) and local rider Paul
Minnaar (Harmony Gold) broke the CSC/Marcello domination on this tough leg.
The two worked well together for just under 45km sharing the pace work with van Staden eventually winning the sprint to the finish line.
Thomas came in with blistering speed to win the bunch sprint for third position.
The last and fourth stage was a Kermesse in Breda Street, Paarl.
Spectators were treated to some exciting cycling on a 800m circuit.
The stage was done at a cracking pace and it was almost certain that Willemse would finish the tour in the yellow jersey.
Attacks were plenty, but again the team of Bellville reigned supreme. Thomas again won the bunch sprint convincingly with Willemse second and Hanachi third.
Willemse however had done enough to be crowned the overall winner of the first ever Tour de Boland, whilst Thomas won the points competition.
Charlesworth was the overall Tour winner in the veterans category.
After the race Willemse praised the efforts of the Boland Cycling Union (BCU) who organised the event.
“There was never a moment that we didn’t feel safe,” Willemse said about the well organised safety regulations of the tour and the important role the local traffic department played.
The event was greatly supported by the Western Cape Department of Culture and Sport.
“The Tour de Boland will definitely be on the 2008 cycling calendar and it is the vision of the BCU to develop this tour into a national event ,” says Ian Goetham, one of the organisers. “The idea is also to extend the tour to perhaps four days of racing.”
More
News
|
