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Van Heerden sprints to SA title PDF Print E-mail
Written by Steve Wicks   
Monday, 22 February 2010 12:30

The elite race at the South African Championships was held on Friday (19 Feb) afternoon over an undulating 11.2km route in Klerksdorp.

A field of 170 riders made it a nervous beginning over the narrow suburban streets and after 15 laps victory went to Christoff Van Heerden (MTN Energade) after a race-long breakaway with numerous riders!

While testing out the lap for the first time the speed was high and nearing the beginning of lap two, a small attack by Richard Baxter (House of Paint) caused a reaction that came from JC Nel (Mr Price), Pieter Seyffert (DCM Chrome), Adrian Niyonshuti and Christoff van Heerden (MTN Energade). The group was soon whittled down to just 5 as Niyonshuti slipped on a corner.

The gap hovered between 30 sec and a minute as the bunch tried to react, but strangely no organised chase developed.

After the 5 man group worked well enough to get a gap of over 3 minutes, the cohesion disintegrated and by the 100km mark, Van Heerden decided to attack, reducing the front group to himself and Nicholas White (Medscheme).

The bunch was still not organised well enough and the racing was hurting the bunch with the likes of MTN, Medscheme and David George trying to break it up over the hills.

Eventually Toyota and DCM tried to get a good chase going, but the two escapees stayed clear and only in the final couple of laps did a small group develop and slip away from the bunch.

Johann Van Zyl (Toyota Academy), Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (MTN) and James Perry (EMG) made contact with the front riders on the final hills in the last lap, and then just 30 sec separated them from the bunch before Perry managed to get clear with 5 km remaining.

Van Heerden tried to close the gap but faltered and then White attacked and went out alone in front. Entering the final 3kms, Perry re-joined but they were still well clear of Van Heerden and Van Zyl.

The two riders in front hesitated a bit and losing speed, Van Heerden was able to claw his way back and regain the front with less than 2 km remaining.

A small flurry of attacks were all that was left before the finish line was in sight and Van Heerden, a master of bunch sprints and a quick finisher, made no mistake to beat White and Perry to win the 2010 South African Road race title.

Johann Van Zyl came in a few seconds later to claim the U/23 title after a good finish to his race while Reynard Butler managed 2nd place in the U/23 race, finishing in the next group on the road, and Reinardt Janse van Rensburg took third after being dropped from the break.

Van Zyl showed resilience and maturity beyond his years to mix it up with the elites at the end of the 170km. All of these young riders are ones to watch for the future.

Elite Men Results - 170km

1 Christoff Van Heerden (MTN Cycling Team) 4:16:24
2 Nicholas White (Team Medscheme)
3 James Perry (EMG - Yorkshire Cycling)
4 Burry Stander (Specialized) 0:00:28
5 Hanco Kachelhoffer (Team Medscheme)
6 Jaco Venter (MTN Energade)

Under 23 Men

1 Johann A Van Zyl (Toyota National Academy) 4:16:31
2 Reynard Butler (EMG - Yorkshire) 0:00:21
3 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (MTN Energade Team)
4 Michael Robinson (DCM Chrome)
5 Paul Van Zweel (Velo)
 
A bit about Finish Line Cycles PDF Print E-mail
Written by Steve Wicks   
Tuesday, 02 February 2010 20:55

Finish Line Cycles caters for all disciplines of cycling. From children learning to ride to informal mountainbike rides and road fun rides to elite riders sprinting for victory in big events. A club has weekly rides and is affiliated to Central Gauteng Cycling and Cycling South Africa.

Finish Line Cycles is also well known throughout cycling circles for its legendary coffee. It's also a fun place to meet friends.

Road

Choosing a road bike has become a difficult task, given the choice of bikes that are currently available in South Africa. Apart from assisting you in finding the machine that is best suited to your individual build and budget, we stock the brands that we know offer the most important features that you should look for when buying a bike: quality, value and the best back-up service.It is our pleasure to match you up!

MTB

Choosing a mountain bike must be done with the following in consideration: Build of the rider, ability of the rider, terrain where the bike is to be ridden, and long term prospects. Working components on a MTB are the most important, so buy the best componentry you can! Also, the better the shock, the more comfortable the ride. Our MTB club members have tried every make we stock and have given us the all clear!

BMX

Finish Line Cycles has young rider development at heart and proof of this is found in its commitment to BMX racing. By stocking the best quality racing, trick and kids bikes. The team at Finish line believes that these bikes can handle what "Johnny" puts them through, until he can get a bike like Dad's...

Accessories & repairs

Riders need kit. Whether it is protective gear like helmets or gloves or items designed to make long rides possible like hydration packs or lights to stylish bling, Finish Line Cycles has a huge inventory of accessories. Fitment of accessories can be carried out in a well equipped workshop that offers above average professional service and treats all bikes as though they are the latest in carbon-fibre technology.

Coaching & Training

Clint Curtis together with Mark vd Merwe are the coaches at Finish Line, with more than 10-years experience and countless successes. They have assisted in coaching the Finish Line junior team that claimed 16 consecutive victories at the Junior Tour. Many of the riders who have been coached by us have gone on to promising international careers: Ryan Cox (Barloworld); Jeremy Maartens (Neotel); Tiaan Kannemeyer (Konica-Minolta); Mike Robinson (Minolta). Let us show you the way the professionals do it!