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Clover Lowveld Tour's big hills test the bestWednesday, 29 September 2010 07:18
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Pain and suffering in Clover Lowveld TourIt has been just a few days since the end of the Clover Lowveld tour, and after five stages in the hills surrounding the town of Graskop, Kevin Evans of MTN Energade prevailed and won the event from the onslaught of young riders. It has been quite some time since I last rode a tour based in the mountain town of Graskop, and a few months ago, this event beam a reality, catering for categories from juniors to veterans. It was in an elite bunch that we raced and although not a large peleton it was a quality field. It was no easy feat racing in the hills of the Lowveld (still not sure why it is the Lowveld when we climbed so many hills every day?). The race consisted of five stages, the longest 156km, and the shortest a time trial of 7.5km. The elite bunch raced a total of 540km with 9808m of altitude gain, 11 laps of the circuit of God's Window, and three ascents of Kowyn's Pass. It hurt! The first stage from Graskop, 2 laps God's Window, Sabie, Hazyview and mountain top finish on Kowyn's Pass, was dominated by an early break of six riders. The final person caught on the last climb towards the finish was Neil Macdonald of team Medscheme. The big chase had come from MTN Energade, and closing a gap of up to 9 minutes on the leaders, Kevin Evans and Jason Bakke (House of Paint) scaled the heights of Kowyn's together, but Evans had the strength to win the sprint at the end. I was able to go in the move that chased the leaders in the final 40km, along with Luthando Kaka of Team Medscheme, Paul Van Zweel (Toyota National Academy), Shaun Ward (Panda), Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (DCM), Bakke and Evans. Arriving at the foot of the big climb, we could see Macdonald ahead, and had caught all the remnants of the break. Evans attacked with the most power, and Bakke was the only one who could get up to him. I was limited nearer the top, suffering a rare case of hunger knock, but surviving on to finish in 5th on the day. The second stage featured another two 'warm up' laps of God's Window, and then it was down to Hasyview, Buchbuckridge and back up to a mountain finish on Kowyn's. The racing was fierce, and eventually a group got some room, containing Kaka, Macdonald and Maree (House of Paint). MTN did the necessary work on the front protecting the lead of Evans. (Brad Potgieter and Stanley Namanyane were solid workers and then the surprise force from Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg when necessary). A select group reached the slopes of Kowyn's in relatively close proximity, and the race up the hill featured Evans, Ward and Van Zweel, but before the top, Medscheme's Johann Rabie made contact and on the run in to the finish, Van Zweel tried a solo effort. However it was Rabie who had the strength to win the sprint once he was caught just meters from the line! Bakke was the big loser on this day, and dropped from second to fourth position while suffering on the hill near the end. Ward and Van Zweel were able to stay with Evans, but lacked the power to attack or distance the leader. Evans had the depth to lead the tour, and the strength to control the pace. I struggled with the accelerations and early pace on the climb, but still managed to finish close to the front near the end. Day three gave us the opportunity to enjoy six laps of God's Window circuit and the first few in the mist! If you have ever ridden around this area you will know that this is a special route, but six times? The day's action had numerous attacks on the field, and eventually a small group went clear. David Maree of House of Paint managed to get himself into all of the moves for the day, and on the final lap escaped from his breakaway companions at that time - Kaka and David Brown (Toyota National academy). Maree was caught by a storming Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (MTN) who had gotten away from the chase group, and crossed to the break and passed them to catch the lone leader. He tried repeatedly to get away from Maree, who hung on tenaciously before surprising the strong MTN rider in the sprint to win! This was a tough day, with some cat and mouse being played by the top riders in the GC. An afternoon time trial up Kowyn's Pass was in everyones mind, as that was the main opportunity to gain or lose time. In just 7.3 kilometers it is possible to gain a lot, or to lose everything, and with it's constant gradient, the climb of Kowyn's Pass offered a stiff challenge to those wishing to make good use of it's slopes. I was hoping to make good ground, but after a relatively good start, I began to falter, feeling the efforts of the previous three stages. Close to 2 thirds of the way up I was surprised by a flying Jason Bakke who caught me from behind, and sped on. I was not able to follow his tempo, and struggled to maintain my pace after that, riding into the late afternoon sun… At the top, I learn't that Jason Bakke has sped the fastest up the hill, beating Kevin Evans by 11 seconds to win the stage. He also passed Van Zweel on the Classification to land into third place, only a handful of seconds adrift of second. Shaun ward rode strongly to maintain his second place, if only by a slim margin. which meant that there was a possible showdown awaiting on the final stage. The youngsters were proving to have some strong moments, but they could still not match the consistency of Kevin Evans. The final day's stage of 96 km started again outside the shop of Africa Silks in Graskop, and drifted down to the Blyderiver Canyon before returning back on the same road, but with a little excursion up to God's Window again before the finish! After a start marred by attack after attack, the Toyota National Academy took control to race for the first King of the Mountain prime, as they had HB Kruger racing Shaun Ward to finalize the competition. Both were on the same points after the three days of racing, and either needed a slim margin to win it out right. The young team eventually got it together, and HB managed to edge out Ward to get the top spot and a point over his competitor. The immediate reaction form the bunch was a counter attack, and the break of the day developed from this point on. A group of six went clear. David Maree in the points jersey was again an aggressor, along with Kaka, Pepper (House of paint), Shaun- Nick Bester (Toyota), Gawie Combrink (TCS) and Peter -Lee Jeffries. Combrink had been riding strongly throughout the race, and without being in any big breaks, perhaps he had the most in his tank, and soon escaped alone away from the rest. Kaka and Maree tried to make a good chase across to him, but their pervious day's efforts showed. Combrink stayed clear, and eventually won in fine style, holding a four minute gap to the chase from the bunch, which moved him into fifth position overall for the tour! The race from behind failed to upset the top four positions, and the tour ended with Evans on top, followed by Shaun Ward in second, Jason Bakke in third and Paul Van Zweel in fourth. I had a terrible day, suffering from the effects of the past stages, and did not hang onto the front split of the bunch on the final ascent of God's Window. I had hoped for more, but I suppose three months on crutches and only 11 weeks of proper riding is not enough to be top fit again…
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