Friday, 11 March 2011 11:04
SA cycling legend Lange to retire
One of the most illustrious careers in South African sport will come to an end on Sunday when Malcolm Lange, the most prolific road cycling race winner of the modern era, will hang up his racing bike for good. The 37-year-old Lange, who lives in Fairland, Johannesburg, has decided that the 2011 Cape Argus Pick ‘n Pay Cycle Tour will be his final race as a professional athlete.
When Lange lines up at the start of the Cycle Tour among 35000 other cyclists on Sunday, he’ll also be lining up to defend his title, which he won for the third time last year after outsprinting an elite breakaway group that included seven-time Tour de France winner, Lance Armstrong.
Lange, who is the owner of Team Bonitas Medscheme, a South African-based, internationally registered professional team, will shift his focus to building his team and sports management business, Lange Sports, which he co-owns with his wife Jackie.
“It’s the right time,” said Lange. “I can just feel it. A number of factors have influenced my decision. Although physically I am still capable of winning races at the professional level, I’m really getting a lot of satisfaction from helping young riders on my team develop into race winners. I’m also tired. I’m not recovering well as I should for this high level of performance because I squeeze in regular work around my training.
“Without Jackie’s support, I wouldn’t have been able to race this long and build such a successful team. I’m not just saying that. She’s been amazing. Jackie and I have two young children, Tyler (7) and Kaylin (5); I want to spend more time with them.”
Lange’s career has been nothing short of spectacular, leading many to consider him a true South African cycling legend. One of the country’s best ever track cyclists as a schoolboy, he burst onto the more popular road racing scene in 1991 as a 17-year-old, outsprinting seasoned pros, Willie Engelbrecht and Andrew McLean, to win the Pietermaritzburg-to-Durban National Classic.
In 1992, his final year of school, Lange represented South Africa in the road race and on the track at the Barcelona Olympic Games. He then spent the next four years racing in Europe at a time when South African cyclists, freshly liberated from a two-and-a-half decade international sporting ban, were reduced to foraging for support from smallish regional teams, usually in Belgium.
“It was in 1996, my first year as a professional on a Belgian squad, that I realised that in Europe at that time, no matter how much talent or natural desire you had for success, if you didn’t find a good doctor, you were unlikely to find a podium. Some may think this is an excuse for not making it big in Europe, but it’s true and it’s being revealed more and more in the media these days. I opted to rather race honestly in South Africa than dishonestly there.”
Since 2006, professional cycling has begun to clean up its act internationally, but by then, Lange was already a decade into his domestic-based career, which has included multiple wins in all of the country’s most popular races, including Cape Argus Pick ‘n Pay Cycle Tour (three), Momentum 94.7 Cycle Challenge (three), MTN Amashova Pietermaritzburg-to-Durban Classic (six). He’s also won numerous South African titles on the track and three South African Elite road-racing titles. He has amassed a staggering 409 road race wins in his career, at least three times more than any other South African racer over the past two decades.
Lange intended to retire at the end of 2007, but a crash sustained when his chain snapped during a finishing sprint in what should have been one of his last races, forced him to postpone. The crash left him with a broken collarbone, prompting him to continue racing in order to end his career on a higher, happier note.
“I thought about retiring after last year’s Cycle Tour, which was undoubtedly the best edition of that race with the increased media and public attention created by Armstrong’s presence. Winning it was definitely one of the highlights of my career and would have been the perfect time to retire. But I felt I still had too many commitments to my sponsors as a rider and needed a more solid succession plan for the team, which is now finally in place.
“Since I launched my own team, with the support of main sponsor Medscheme in 2009, it has been the most successful South African team in terms of race victories. That’s important, both for me personally and for my sponsors. The people at Medscheme put their faith in my ability to create and build successful team and by them offering the team title this year to their client, Bonitas, says a lot.
“My sponsors, both current and past, have been extremely supportive for which I’m very grateful. I now feel that the team is ready to race on without me. I won’t be on the bike, but I’ll remain firmly in the racing environment. I’m going to the Tour of Korea with the team later this month where I’ll fulfill the manager’s role. I love winning and I intend for my team to still win plenty!”
Lange believes that with increased focus on team management, he can help grow the team into a respected international outfit and help produce a new crop of star South African riders.
“We really have a lot of young talent in this country. I want to help identify and nurture that talent so that we can produce Olympic, World and Tour de France champions. I never had this kind of infrastructure when I was a young racer and I’m very pleased to be able to offer it to young riders now, with the support of my sponsors. I’ve had my time to win races. Sure, it was a longer career than most, but now it’s time to pass on the baton to the next generation. Now is the right time.”
The Cape Argus Pick ‘n Pay Cycle Tour will be televised live on SuperSport 5 on Sunday from 06h00. For more information on Lange and his Bonitas Medscheme team, visit www.teambonitas.co.za or follow @LangeMalcolm on twitter.
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