Thursday, 10 March 2011 15:52
Rabie wins altered Tour De Boland third stage
Team Bonitas' Johan Rabie was not the only one on fire today in Paarl winning what was meant to be the longest stage of the four day tour. At the last minute provincial authorities and organisers had to adjust the Stage 3 route of the Le Coq Sportif Tour de Boland. The route had to be changed because Du Toitskloof Pass between Worcester and Paarl was on fire. This despite the 150 riders having already left Paarl.
After less than 10 kilometres into the race the officials neutralised the race with the bad news that the vegetation on Du Toitskloof was on fire and that a strong headwind was threatening to cause extensive damage.
The race organisers, officials, provincial authorities and Drakenstein municipality personnel put heads together, and, within a few minutes announced a change in route and sent the riders onto their altered course.
Neil Schalkwyk, representative of Le Coq Sportif in South Africa summed the situation up as follows: “It was amazing how the route marshals were shifted from their original points to their new points on the route, and how seamlessly the race safety was once again of the highest standard.”
The race heated up on the first ascent of the Franshhoek Pass, where the first King of the Mountain sprint occurred. On the descent the race continued breaking up into a long line, with small bunches forming on the road towards Theewaterskloof. By the time that the front groups reached Villiersdorp, the new halfway point on this shortened stage, most of the elite riders regrouped.
At the Villiersdorp turning point DCM rider Clinton Burrow went into a solo break for 20 kilometres but was caught again on the slopes of the second climb, being the second ascent of Franshhoek Pass.
Nine riders immediately jumped clear, including Darren Lill (DCM), Christoff Van Heerden (MTN/Qhubeka), Johann Rabie (Team Bonitas), Daryl Impey (MTN/Qhubeka), as well as 19-year-old Louis Meintjies from the Toyota Cyclelab CSA Academy team.
The last part of the race was extremely fast going past Simondium, with a tail wind contributing to speeds in excess of 60 kilometres per hour.
Rabie managed to sprint to the line ahead of Lill, with young Meintjies in third.
With the absence of Cherise Taylor who withdrew from the race yesterday Ashley Moolman took the win today in the Clover woman’s race.
Hendrik Lemmer, head organiser concludes: “The chief of the traffic department Steward Adams and his colleagues deserve a medal, each and every one of them, along with the provincial officials for their superb handling of the situations as it unfolded today.”
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