Monday, 28 February 2011 11:01
Cell C Tour of SA: Riccio wins last stage, House stays yellow
Bernardo Riccio from the Italian d'Angelo & Antenucci-Nippo team won the final stage of the Cell C Tour of South Africa which took place in the streets of Paarl over a 10 km circuit raced 10 times and in doing was the only rider to win two stages of the tour.
A closed circuit in Paarl was the venue with Live television coverage on Supersport. The action was fast and furious over the scorching circuit. Making sure the route was secure, the riders departed a few minutes later than planned on a neutral lap of the town. The racing started in earnest after the red flag was dropped and soon a group was speeding up the road. This group contained Sven van den Houte (Veranda's Willems Accent); Kevin Reza (Europcar); Daniel Teklehaimanot (UCI Africa), Hanco Kachelhoffer (Bonitas),Richard Baxter (Tasol GT), Kevin Evans (360Life) and Peter Seyffert (DCM). I saw the opportunity and then jumped across with Waylon Woolcock (Bonitas) for company, swelling the group to nine riders.
This turned into the escape of the day and we worked our lead up to almost two minutes. The chase came from behind in the form of MTN Qhubeka, hoping for a sprint stage win, as well as the Moroccan team as they did not wish Daniel Teklehaimanot to get any points in the UCI Africa Tour via a stage result. The gap was then reduced a bit, but it did not come down too consistently and I though that there might be a chance to keep our group away to the finish. Seyffert was not participating very well in our group, as his team mate Herman Fouche had visions of a stage win in a bunch sprint. This caused the other riders in the break to also mess about a little and with 2 laps remaining Richard Baxter attacked. This split the group and he was soon joined by Reza, but then after the long head wind section we all regrouped anyway. This had taken the wind out of the sails a little bit, and on the final lap the bunch closed the remainder of the gap up to us.
The scene was set for a good sprint, and only James Perry of Taso GT tried to upset that with an attack. It was not going to work however in the fast run down to the finish. This is where team tactics came into play, but also good positioning, and a corner in the final kilometer was the obstacle that riders had to negotiate while staying in a good position for their sprint. The Europcar team made a solid lead out for their man Gene, but it was the Italian Riccio that was the fastest finisher and took the stage easily!
Regarding the general classification, Kristian House was once again protected by his Rapha Condor - Sharp team, and they cruised home to take the tour comfortably! Johann Rabie (Bonitas) and Daryl Impey (MTN Qhubeka) filled the rest of the podium, with consistent finishes all week to solidify their placings. Funny enough, you could call the Cell C Tour of South Africa a Rapha Condor- Sharp sandwich, as they had a rider on top, and on the bottom of the General Classification! Kristian House first, and Dan Craven last in 99th place!
It has been fantastic for South African cycling to enjoy such racing on home soil, and the standard of racing in this country will only improve if more of these races with international competition are available. Well done to the organisers and sponsors for getting the race off the ground. Despite a few teething troubles, the event went off smoothly, and if you speak to any of the foreign riders they will say that it was a great race. Sure a stage was stopped due to traffic, but that can happen anywhere in the world as traffic and road furniture levels increase. The riders were not too disappointed about it as it is something that has to be respected when the race directors decide. But the tour went on and was very competitive until the final kilometer. The South African teams can learn a lot from this event, and I am sure they will gain in experience and their competitive levels improve with more races such as these, either on home ground or abroad.
The Cell C Tour of South Africa Overall Competition Winners:
- King of The Mountains – Daryl Impey (MTN Qhubeka)
- Best African Rider – Johan Rabie (Team Bonitas)
- Samsung Best Young Rider–Christopher Jennings (Burgos 2016 - Castillia y'Leon)
- Points Competion – Yohann Gene (Team Europcar)
- Team Winners – Team Europcar
Stage 7 Results:
1 Bernardo Riccio (Ita) d'Angelo & Antenucci - Nippo 2:24:01
2 Martijn Verschoor (Ned) Team Type 1 - Sanofi Aventis
3 Yohann Gene (Fra) Team Europcar
4 André Schulze (Ger) CCC Polsat Polkowice
5 Arran Brown (RSA) MTN Qhubeka
6 Herman Fouche (RSA) DCM
7 Jean-Pierre Drucker (Lux) Veranda's Willems - Accent
8 Vojtech Hacecky (Cze) Czech Republic
9 Johann Rabie (RSA) Team Bonitas
10 Milan Kadlec (Cze) Czech Republic
Final general classification
1 Kristian House (GBr) Rapha Condor - Sharp 21:35:16
2 Johann Rabie (RSA) Team Bonitas 0:02:09
3 Daryl Impey (RSA) MTN Qhubeka 0:02:11
4 Perrig Quemeneur (Fra) Team Europcar
5 Thomas Degand (Bel) Veranda's Willems - Accent
6 Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Burgos 2016 - Castilla y León 0:02:18
7 David George (RSA) 360 Life 0:02:22
8 Jonathan Tiernan-Locke (GBr) Rapha Condor - Sharp 0:02:28
9 Darren Lill (RSA) DCM 0:02:36
10 Milan Kadlec (Cze) Czech Republic 0:02:57
Points classification
1 Yohann Gene (Fra) Team Europcar 21 pts
2 Johann Rabie (RSA) Team Bonitas 21
3 Bernardo Riccio (Ita) d'Angelo & Antenucci - Nippo 20
4 Kristian House (GBr) Rapha Condor - Sharp 20
5 Darren Lill (RSA) DCM 16
Mountains classification
1 Daryl Impey (RSA) MTN Qhubeka 67 pts
2 Jonathan Tiernan-Locke (GBr) Rapha Condor - Sharp 51
3 David George (RSA) 360 Life 31
4 Johann Rabie (RSA) Team Bonitas 28
5 Johann Van Zyl (RSA) Toyota CSA 18
Young rider classification
1 Christopher Jennings (RSA) Burgos 2016 - Castilla y León 21:38:30
2 Tsgabu Gebremaryam Grmay (Eth) UCI African Team 0:02:09
3 Misnga Okbatsion (Eri) UCI African Team 0:12:16
4 Johann Van Zyl (RSA) Toyota CSA 0:14:27
5 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) MTN Qhubeka 0:14:34
6 Stefan Ihlenfeldt (RSA) Toyota CSA 0:14:39
7 Louis Meintjes (RSA) Toyota CSA 0:18:05
8 Christiaan Kriek (RSA) Toyota CSA 0:18:11
9 David Maree (RSA) Tasol - GT Pro Cycling 0:31:23
10 Clinton Barrow (RSA) DCM 0:32:13
Teams classification
1 Team Europcar 64:54:06
2 Veranda's Willems - Accent 0:01:39
3 Team Type 1 - Sanofi Aventis 0:03:08
4 DCM 0:06:28
5 Team Differdange - Magic-Sportfood.de 0:07:19
6 MTN Qhubeka 0:10:22
7 Burgos 2016 - Castilla y León 0:11:04
8 Team Bonitas 0:12:29
9 UCI African Team 0:12:58
10 Toyota CSA 0:15:38
Regarding our participation, the Toyota CSA team had some good moments, but it was a learning experience for the young guys in the team and they rode boldly. It just wasn't possible to make any big results in the finishes, with Louis Meintjies 10th place in the Queen stage the highlight of the race. Johann Van Zyl rode really aggressively and was in the picture on many of the days, but those efforts did not result in any stage or GC results. Christiaan Kriek and Stefan Ihlenfeldt had some good finishes, but their depth and experience will increase. HB Kruger started strongly, but got caught in a back group on a key stage, and they arrived after the time limit. I had enjoyed the race with the guys, and a few times we managed to have riders in the right place at a good time, but it will take more than a seven day race to get to a good level. It is all a part of the process however, and we are thankful for the opportunity.
Thanks to all of our sponsors in helping us through the race as well as our support staff, Mark van der Merwe, Tim Thijs and Rian Gouws.
Report by Nic White
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