Realising the “Dream” – Coupe du Monde II – Glasgow

On Monday 11 November 2012, Jeanne Nell, Reniéll Matthysen & myself will be travelling to Gladgow to realise a “Dream”, not only will we be realising a “Dream” but so will the team and sponsors we ride for, a “Dream” of competing against the best in the world, on the international stage, in a sport we have loved all our lives.

This is the next step for Team Intellibus to build a platform for young South African talent and create international racing opportunities for our future stars.

Press Release below:

The team known amongst the South African cycling fraternity as “The Bus” was formed in 2008 by team owner, Owen Lloyd, with the initial vision to create a platform for young promising track riders to launch their cycling careers.

After its inception in 2008, Owen, approached quality riders and riders that shared his code of ethics and desire to promote his vision.

In 2011 Team Intellibus was officially formed as a Top Club Team and initially the idea was to lay the platform for future results, however, 2011 was so successful that the vision and aims of the team had to be relooked.

The decision was made that in 2012/2013 the main aim or “Dream” of the team would be to establish Team Intellibus as the most successful track racing team in South Africa as well as creating more opportunity for the riders to gain access to International Events, while keeping the ethics of the team intact.

Next week Team Intellibus embark on making this “Dream” a reality, by sending some of the riders to their first UCI World Cup in Glasgow to compete against the best in the world, this is the next step in building the platform for future talent, with a view to sending more young talent to future international competitions.

The experience gained by these riders will be shared and handed down to the younger generation of talent already on the team as well as future talent being added to the team.

The riders going to Glasgow and their events are:

Boyd Roberts – Team Captain – Omnium

Reniéll Matthysen – Scratch

Jeanne Nell – Sprint & Keirin

Support Staff:

Owen Lloyd – Mechanic
Elna Lloyd – Masseur-Soigneur

World Masters Track Championships – Manchester, UK

I’ve spent the last 10 days in Manchester UK, chasing a dream.

I went to the World Masters Track Championship on Thursday 06 October with the aim of becoming World Champion, my form was great, all the long hours and early mornings were starting to pay off, all i needed was for the form to work on race day and to have some luck go my way.

First event for me on Monday 10 October was the 1km TT, this was going to be a dress rehearsal for the 3km Pursuit on Wednesday 12 October.

1km TT

I did a new PB time of 1:08, finished 8th in an event i never trained for and only entered at the last-minute but the dress rehearsal on the bigger gear went well.

Next up was the Pursuit and this was going to be a tough day, Qualifying ride in the morning and the top 4 go through to ride for medals in the evening. I was on a schedule of 3:30 which should have placed me in a top 4 position, this is a time i had never done before but as this was a World Championship i felt i needed to push for this time. I was on schedule for the first 2 km and faded a little toward the end, finishing in a time of 3:34:6, this, still a PB by 6 sec and good enough to qualify 4th and a ride for Bronze medal in the evening against the Australian Andrew Gerber.

Starting Gate

In the evening the plan was to ride “the man” ie make sure i was on the same pace as him and if i was still in reach with 4 laps to go i would give it my all to try win.

Full Flight

At 2km we were both in a dead heat, my dad coaching from the center of the track was telling me to “go get him”, i turn the screw and accelerated, 3 laps to go i was 1/2 a second up, 2 to go i was over a second up and at the line i did a 3:30:2, taking the bronze medal and breaking my PB and qualifying ride by over 4 seconds.

Pursuit Podium

Next up for me was the Scratch on Friday 14 October, this event is always a bit of a lottery, sometimes a move just works and sometimes not. I had one of those days with little luck. I felt good so attacked early on to try take a lap on the field, i was away for over 10 laps alone but could not bridge the gap to the back of the field and was eventually caught, as i was caught a new move went away, this time 4 riders, they were allowed the freedom and they lapped the field along with 2 others who made individual efforts (including South African Mario Nel) – in the closing stages of the event i was half a lap up with Andrew Gerber of Australia but we could not gain the lap and i finished 8th.

On the Attack in the Scratch Final

Scratch Race

Final day for me and my favourite event the Points Race, this was going to be a war of attrition – 30km with 12 sprints to gain point, the rider scoring the most points would win.

On the Attack in the Points Race

Normally i would ride this event looking to gain a lap as im not always the best sprinter, but on the day my legs just seemed to work when i asked them to, i took the first sprint lap with ease and continued to score well, i rode off the front for a while trying to gain a lap but i was a marked man and got caught, as i got caught Mickael Dhinnin of France attacked and the field allowed him the freedom, he very quickly took a lap and although i had been most active in scoring points he was now the new race leader as he gained 20 points bonus for lapping the field. I was now in 2nd on points but still scoring well. Next move was by Graeme Lackford and again he was allowed a little freedom and gained a lap, now i was down to 3rd. While thinking i should protect my 3rd place and score points, Mickael Dhinnin rode away again and took a 2nd lap – now the Gold was gone. I continued to win points and was the only rider to score on every lap, winning 6 of the 12 sprints and taking full points in the last 3 sprint laps to overhaul Graeme Lackford on points a secure Silver.

Jason White and Myself - Points Race

Jason White, Mario Nel & Myself - Points Race

Final Lap coming off Richard Prince's wheel with Jason White paying close attention

Points Podium

Overall im extremely happy to have come home with a Bronze in the Pursuit, smashing my PB by nearly 11 seconds and a Silver in the Points Race where Mickael Dhinnin was the better rider.

Medals and Flowers

It’s now time to take a few days to reflect and focus on the rest of our local season

Its been a while ……

Well it’s been a while ……  6 months, since my last post.

A lot has happened during the last 6 months and it would take me more than just a single blog post to cover it all in detail.

It’s been a challenging roller coaster of mixed emotions, stress and pressure. Life at times has not been easy and there have been some difficult times coupled with some exciting and extremely happy moments. The stress and emotions of relationships, building a house, family commitments, work commitments and trying to ride a bike at the highest level and achieve my dreams has at times been all too much, but my mental well being is in good hands now.

Since my last post my dreams consisted of winning a National Title and preparing for the World Master Track championships with a goal of winning a World Title which starts Monday 10 October in Manchester UK, the preparation has been long and hard with many very early morning training session on the road and the gym as well as many nights at the velodrome in more recent weeks.

At our National Track Championships back in April I won 2 Master titles but the one I really wanted slipped through my fingers by less than 80 meters, The Elite Madison was a major target for myself and James Louter and although we are happy to have been on the podium with a bronze medal the National Title was there for the taking, we just could not gain the lap needed to win the event in the dying stages.

After our National track champs there was very little racing on the calendar so it was into training mode for a few months until the new season started in August.

I went to Johannesburg in the middle of August to ride the JHB GP and this was to be my first test to see how the months of training had gone and where I was with my preparation. I had an ok weekend of racing, winning the Keirin final from quite a good field but more importantly I had a good weekend of altitude training.

Our local road season started in September and Team Aurecon went into round 1 with a much better team plan than last year and the aim was to get one of us to win the race and take the leaders pink jersey, we had agreed on our tactics and that was to keep it together for a sprint and help Clive win, when we came to the line for the sprint I was Clive’s last man in the lead out but Clive was unable to cover the moves from Daikin and I had to kick a second time in my sprint. It was clear that the months of training had worked as I was able to come back over Chris Botha to win, this putting me into the pink leaders jersey for the league and Team Aurecon in the lead of the team competition. 

Worcester Sprint Finish

 

Worcester Podium

Next round of the league was a 2.2km Hill Climb TT on what most true climbers would not call a climb, a true power rider was going to do well as you can ride the big blade all the way up. I won the Hill Climb to my utter surprise and solidified the pink jersey lead.

Hill Climb

Hill Climb

 

The following day we had round 3 of the series on a lumpy circuit near Wellington, The Daikin team throw everything at us in the effort to gain back lost points in the series and at one stage there was a break up the road with 4 of my nearest rivals and a member of each team so no help in the main bunch willing to bring the break back, I had to prove to myself again that the early mornings and training I had done was all worth it by riding the gap closed alone. I finished 3rd and in front of all my main rivals to extend the lead a little more in the pink jersey. We have 2 more races to do before the series is over but they are now a little later in the season.The last step of my World Championship preparation was to ride the SA Omnium Championships and Durban GP; this was a true test of my form.

Day1 of the champs was a bit of a disaster with only 1 event being completed and 1 event getting to 13 laps to go and the heavens opened, rain had forces the day to be cancelled. I was lying in third place in the Omnium and was half a lap up with 4 riders in the Scratch race when the rain came and the plan was to restart the next day in the same position and complete the remaining laps.

Elite Points Race

Day2 was dry but extremely windy but we were able to complete all the racing, I won the Scratch race after the restart which put me into the lead on points in the Omnium. I went on to win the Pursuit, finish 2nd in the Points race, 4th in the Kilo and 5th in the Elimination race to win the SA Omnium Championships.

Elite Podium SA Omnium Champs

I’ve done all I set out to do in preparation for the World Championships, my form is good, I need to keep my head clear and focused on the goals of next week

My race schedule is as follows:

Monday 10 October – 1km TT (this is a warm up event for me and will give me a feel for the track under race conditions, but is not a goal)

Wednesday 12 October – 3km Pursuit Heats and Final

Friday 14 October – 15km Scratch Race Heats and Final

Saturday 15 October – 30km Points

I will try update from Manchester next week otherwise a full update on my return.

EP Track Interprovincial and EP Grand Prix

Well it’s been a while since my last blog, the road racing season ended for me officially at the Argus Tour, it was a bit of an eventful week with us trying to ride the Boland Tour and Argus Tour. Some great miles during the week but the level of racing with the Pro’s is something else.

The Argus tour was a success, it started with me having very tired legs and struggling on all the climbs but I was able to hang on or at least get back on when I did get dropped. After Sukkierbossie I got back into the bunch and always knew I had a chance in the sprint. Taking 2nd place in the 30-39 Vets race, at first I was unhappy that we allowed a rider to sneak off the front with 600m to the line but in hindsight I’m happy to have been on the podium.

So next up is track racing until end of April where my season will officially end with the South African National Track Championship at Bellville Velodrome.

Last weekend the Western Province team went to ride an Inter-Provincial and Grand Prix in Port Elizabeth, I was selected to ride in the Vets team, not 100% happy as I’m really focusing on riding Elite on the track, but due to the fact that our Elite team were strong enough without me to win and me being old enough to ride Vets and adding strength to the Vets team I accepted that this was for the good of the WP team overall.

The road trip started with use having to find a trailer at the last minute but thanks very much to Mark Weedall we were able to get to PE with all the equipment we needed.

Packing for the trip

After a long drive on the R62 (N2 has far too many stop/go at the moment) we arrived in PE at about 11pm, straight to bed and up early for breakfast, sort out bikes and off to the track for 12.

500m outdoor velodrome

First up for me was the Elimination race, the WP team did a perfect job of pacing and keeping me near the front and out of the wind, this allowed me to save myself for the final few laps and the sprint. Winning the sprint from Wayne Pheiffer and Morne Van Greening, this was the pattern for the day; the WP team rode well in support of me and showed some true commitment to ride as a team.

Warming up for Open Madison with Evan Carstens

I won all the Vets races which I was happy with, I was then asked to ride the Open Madison with Evan Carstens (Current SA Elite Madison Champion). The aim was to get as many of our teams on the podium as we could, so a 1/2 or a 1/3 would have been great. Evan and I attacked at every opportunity and were clearly the strongest team in the race, with 10 laps to go; we only had 6 teams left in the race of which 3 were from WP. As a team we allowed Theuns van der bank and Jason Pentz to get away to force the other provinces to chase but they were unable to bring them back, I put Evan in with a lap to go and he won the sprint from Jeanne Nel/Jeanne Smith making the Madison a 1/2/3 for Western Province and with that, taking to Inter-Provincial title.

In a change - Open Madison

Changing - Close Up - Open Madison

On the attack - Open Madison

Winning Team - Western Province

The next day was the Grand Prix, I was going to ride Elite but after looking at the program, riding Vets and all Open events I got more racing with a 1500m, Scratch, Points, Open Team Sprint, Open 30km.

Hurting

I was 2^nd in the 1500m to Morne Van Greening, broke away with Wayne Pheiffer in the Scratch and won from a 2 up sprint, and then rode away alone in the points to win every points lap and almost lap the field on the final lap. I teamed up with Theuns and Jason for the Open Team sprint and we rode against the favourites (Jeanne Nel, Jeanne Smith, Evan Carstens) with a lap to go I was 3-4 blocks down on Jeanne Smith but closed quickly on him to narrowly miss out beating them by 0.4 sec.

Open 30km

The Open 30km was long, and after the racing I had already done I could feel my legs dying, I let a group of 6 go away and thought I could ride across on my own but could not quiet get back in touch, these 6 rides we the only ones left when I stopped and only 3 riders finished the race, great ride by Theuns and Evan to lap everyone and take 1^st and 2^nd.

On the attack - Open 30km

The weekend was another success, great hard racing which was good for the conditioning work needed for the SA champs.

Next up is WP Champs on 1-3 April and Bellville Velodrome

Final round of Pro Classic Series

Sunday morning was the final round of the Pro Classic Series Summer League (The Bay City), starting in Constantia and heading out over Boyes Drive, around Cape Point and back to Constantia via Kommetjie and Ou Kaaps, this event was going to be harder than the last 2 events where the major obstacles were too early in the race to cause too much break up in the peloton.

Start

We woke up to very wind conditions so i left the Planet X 82/101 Carbon deep wheels at home, this was a good decision as the wind around Cape Point brought the bunch to a near stand still at times.

The race started quite slowly heading out into the wind which made the climbs of Boyes drive and Smitwinkle a little neutral, a couple of attacked on Smitwinkle eventually lead to a break going up the road with Robbie Rodrigues (TeamAurecon) and Shaun Roos (Daikin), toward the top of the climb Shaun had lost contact and there was a move by Stuart Davis (Anderson Transport) to bridge the gap to Robbie, this meant Daikin were missing from the break and needed to control the race and ultimately try bring the break back.

Stuart and Robbie Away

Stuart and Robbie Away

From the top of Smitwinkle until we reached the climb of Slangkop majority of the chase work was being done by Daikin which meant TeamAurecon and Anderson Transport were able to sit in a follow.

On Slangkop there were some more attacks and this time the bunch started to break up, i found myself loosing contact from the front 10 or so riders after being to far back in the group but luckily I was able to get back on with majority of the bunch between Kommetjie and Noordhoek.

Robbie away alone on Ou Kaaps

The main damage and race was always going to happen on Ou Kaaps with only a short distance from the top to the finish, anyone loosing more than 30-40 seconds over the top was going to struggle to get back.

Some acceleration on little Ou Kaaps by John Wakefield (Anderson Transport) caused a split, this time i was well placed to be in the top 10 and follow the leading group over the top before we started the main climb. At the base of the main climb we were left with 12 riders and 2 up the road, John was again making the main effort to split the race, we could see Stuart Davis up the road so there was now a desire to bring the break back into the fold, after a couple of accelerations I was unable to follow the change in speed so rode my own tempo but trying to remain within reach for as long as I could, I was joined by 4 others and we were able to limit our losses to about 25 seconds at the top.

Robbie going over the top of Ou Kaaps alone

On the descent we were reaching speed of 85km/h trying to rejoin the lead group, we lost Pieter Calitz on the descent and 4 riders got back onto the lead group with about 5km to race, Robbie was still away, I was not aware of how close we were to catching him until we could see him in the last 2km, the race was now on!!!!

Robbie digging deep to try stay away inside the final kilometres

The 12 riders caught Robbie in the last 1km, just as we turned left to the finish, i was following Stuart Davis, he opened the sprint with 500m to go i got squeezed off the wheel by Chris Botha and was unable to come over either of them, Stuart winning by a bike length from Chris Botha and me in 3rd.

TeamAurecon at the end

Podium - Top 3 for the day

The team rode well and Robbie had a great go for the win, pity he could not hold on but i had some sprinting legs left so we were able to end the season with another podium and more success for TeamAurecon.

The team was quite consistent during the league, securing 4 podiums, 5 other top 10 placings and 2nd overall in the team competition.

Clive Seebregts takes SA Title for TeamAurecon after busy week of racing

Last week the team had quite a busy schedule of racing, starting with Pro Classic Series Race #3 and ending with the EP Herald Cycle Tour. In the middle of this was a small matter of the National Championships in Port Elizabeth.

Pro Classic Race #3:

The Pro Classic Race #3 was the longest of the 5 events but on paper was not the toughest, as the main challenge, the climb of Botmanskop was quite early in the race. We had an early break form with Jacques (Panorama) making the move, this made the race easier for the rest of the team as we could sit in a little and not force the race.

Jacques (Panorama) driving the break

Jacques (Panorama) lost contact with the break on the climb of Botmanskop and the rest of the break was bought back just after the climb, with the help of Jacques (Caledon) and Anderson Transport.

TeamAurecon sitting in the bunch

Botmanskop Pass

The race looked to be ending in a bunch sprint, until we were 5km out, 2 riders slipped off the front of the bunch, as they were not a major threat on GC all the team looked at each other and this created an advantage to them. With 3 km to go Robbie, Clive and I moved to the front and tried to bring the break back but it was too late. The race for 3rd was a bunch sprint and we misjudged it, Clive finishing 6th and me back in 10th.

Bunch Sprint - (Clive 6th - Boyd 10th)

The week of racing had not started according to plan ……

South African National Road Championships:

Next up was our TeamAurecon road trip to Port Elizabeth (PE) for the National Road Championships and EP Herald.

We left Cape Town early on Thursday morning and drove 9 hours to PE, arrived at our accommodation around 3pm and heading out on our bikes for a short leg loosener and to register for Friday mornings race.

The wind was howling, we ended up doing a 50km ride with a detour onto part of the EP Herald circuit and what we thought was the SA Championships circuit. At registration the organisers had put Clive and I in the wrong Category which was going to cause some minor issues. This was the start of what was to be a very disorganised event!!!

We had dinner, and at 9pm we were still running around sorting out our race numbers, all this for a 7am start. Once we had sorted out our numbers we were told the race circuit was going to be changed due to safety concerns and public complaints due to road closures and the race was delayed to an 8am start.

Clive - time to focus

On the morning of the race there was more chaos, the race was delayed further due the new circuit not being safe or ready – race start delayed to 9am.

SA Road Champs - Chaos at the start

Eventually the race started at 9:40am, now on an 8km circuit, 80 km with over 2000 meters of vertical climbing, this was going to be a short but tough race with no recovery areas on the circuit.

SA Road Champs - About to start

On lap 1, 2 riders got away to created an early break, each lap on the climbs the race got harder, a strong rider was sure to win this event.

On lap 4, Jac-Louis Van Wyk (JHB) rode off the front on a flat part of the circuit between the 2 climbs, Clive Seebregts and Rob Quinn went with, this was a dangerous move but great for our team with Clive now well positioned.

SA Road Champs - Clive makes the main move

These 3 riders join the 2 up the road to create a break of 5. Near the start of lap 7 another move came, this time from Diakin’s David Garrett, Diakin were not represented in the front group so needed to do most of the work. Garrett was followed by Robbie Rodrigues and Jacques Fullard along with a couple of other that could not stay with and this created a second group off the front of the bunch.

SA Road Champs - Robbie makes 2nd move

SA Road Champs - Boyd in Bunch

The bunch was now riding just to finish and had shrunk to about 15 riders, with a 1 1/2 laps to go i got off as the break was not getting caught.

The sprint finish was on a little rise, but a wide road, with about 300m to the line Clive opened his sprint and Jac-Louis was not able to come close to him, Clive claiming Gold, Jac-Louis – Silver and Jacques Fullard slipped away from Robbie and David Garrett to claim bronze, Robbie was 4th – What an awesome result for Clive, Robbie and TeamAurecon.

SA Road Champs - Rob Quinn wins 30-34, Clive Seebregts wins 35-39

The prize giving and medal ceremony was another chaotic affair but we were all on a high and went out for a good celebration, we had Saturday as a recovery day before the EP Herald.

TeamAurecon - Clive in his National Champion's Jersey with Robbie and Boyd

EP Herald:

Sunday morning was EP Herald and we woke up to a misty wet day. As we are not yet a registered CAT1 Team with the CSA we ended up riding in the CAT2 race, same race just in the 2nd group.

Arthur Parsons - Team Manager and Designated Driver - EP Herald

After about 25km i was feeling rather flat and was not having a great day but then by the looks of things neither were many others, we went over the first climb at about 40km and i really struggled over, just off the back of the front split but got back on over the other side. It was wet and windy and on some narrow roads.

By the time we got to the last climb of the day 35km from the finish i had recovered and was feeling much better, moving up into the top 10 in the bunch. Robbie made a move with 3 other riders which was great from TeamAurecon as this forced the teams like Diakin, New Mark Hotels and Dimension Data to do the chasing.

EP Herald - Mist and Rain was the order of the day

Clive and I sat in the top 10 monitoring the action as we hit speeds above 60km along the coast in chase of the 4 man break. The break eventually broke up and left Robbie with 1 other rider and we caught them about 3 km from the finish. With still about 40 riders in the bunch the sprint was going to be a dangerous one so we all tried to stay as far forward as possible and out of trouble.

The wind was now a cross wind (left to right), the bunch was in the right hand gutter and I got a little boxed in with about 1km to go so had to back off and go the long way around in the wind. the sprint was opened up with about 600 meters to go by Dimension Data. I came around the left onto Mark Beneke’s wheel but ran out of road trying to come over him and i finished 3rd. After the 25km breakaway Robbie was still able to claim a top 10 with 9th overall and Clive finishing in the bunch.

Another great day out for TeamAurecon and another podium finish to end an awesome week.

Summer League #2 – Boland Drukpers

On Sunday was round #2 of the Pro Classic Summer League, after round #1 Team Aurecon were in the mix on individual and team general classification but Daiken had a lead which we needed to try trim a little. Charles Solomon was in the pink leader’s jersey and they were going to be the team to watch.

Anderson Transport were the next best placed team and as the race rolled out from Kronenburg Estate it was clear what their intentions were for the day, make it as hard and as fast as possible.

Anderson Transport - on the front keeping the pace up

On the way out the race was fast with a tail wind, but a couple of early moves off the front made for some interesting racing, firstly Pieter Calitz got away and stayed away for about 30km before being joined by Heimer Anderson, Luke Hardiman and Justin Maltby.

Early break

After turning in Malmesbury, the race turned into the wind, a mixture of head and cross winds was now going to make the race tough. Clive Seebregts was very active in trying to get a move off the front but it seemed a lot of riders were happy to sit wheel into the wind so no real move seemed likely.

On the front, into the wind

After about 15km into the wind a small group formed off the front, with no Aurecon or Anderson Transport riders but also none of the top contenders. I decided to ride across and see if we could make a break, i was followed by Chris Botha and a small number of others, by the time i got across to the break i looked around to see the bunch strung out and a number of gaps being created where riders were starting to struggle, so i put my head down and went as hard as i could, now the race was about to get hard.

Ronney - In bunch

After a few kilometres we had a group of 9 riders away and everyone was fully committed to working and trying to make this move work, the group was made up of 2 Daiken (Chris Botha & Charles Solomon), 2 Aurecon (Robbie and Myself), 2 MTN Club 100 (Stuart Davies & Luke Hardiman), Gavin Smith (Team Intelibus), Neil Bradford (Cycle Lab SuperCycling) and MC Dreyer (Brothers)

Breakaway - near finish

The break quickly create a gap and by the time we turned at the fruit sellers 4 way (+- 30km to race) we had nearly 2 minutes lead.

We continued to work well together until we turned onto the R44 heading back to the finish when the “cat and mouse” games started, Robbie and I knew we had to watch Daiken but we were also conscious that anyone in this group could win with a bit of luck.

There was one last bump in the road before it was downhill for the last 4 km to the finish, Charles Solomon and Chris Botha made it really hard and we lost Luke Hardiman and Gavin Smith, i was hanging on at the top but was able to get back quickly. On the decent the games continued and Stuart Davies took his chance at attacking off the front. He quickly built a lead and looked like he may stay away until Charles put in a big effort to bring him back in the last kilometre.

Stuart Davies away with 3km to go - break in background

Coming into the last kilometre i was on Chris Botha wheel as i knew he was the best sprinter, there was an early attack from MC Dreyer and Chris went after him, the sprint was into the wind so i waited as long as i thought i should and then had a go for the line but Chris Botha was too strong and i left it a little too late to come over him.

I was 2nd and Robbie was able to hold off a fast finishing Neil Bradford to claim 3rd. Clive Seebregts claimed 2nd in the bunch sprint to finish 10th/11th (results still pending), both Jacques’, Ronney and Arthur rode well in support of the team with some early monitoring of moves, Jacques from Caledon was unlucky to be caught up in a crash, lost some minor skin and damaged a front wheel but finished.

Another good showing by Team Aurecon, we are still in the mix with both Individual and Team classifications but we will need to get the better of Daiken in the next few races.

Sprint finish - Break of 7 at the line

Chris Botha 1st, Boyd Roberts 2nd, Robbie Rodrigues 3rd

Podium

Summer League #1 – Cape Cobra

This weekend saw the start of the Pro Classic Summer series, race #1 was the Cape Cobra, according to many the hardest race of the series over 85km and taking in 7 climbs in total around the Cape Peninsula.

Team Early in Race

The race started at Reddam House School in Constantia and headed out over Boyes Drive, some early nerves in the bunch leading up to the climb but the team all stayed out of trouble and near the front end of the bunch, a couple of little testing attacks on Boyes Drive but nothing to worry about, the main action was going to happen on Blackhill (at least this was what we thought would happen).

Nothing major happened through Fish Hoek, we turned right onto Blackhill for our 1st ascent and it was a head wind, a couple of attacks lead to nothing and as it was a head wind this kept the bunch mainly together.

 

Jacques (Caledon) - Blackhill 1st time up

Jacques (Panorama) and Robbie in Bunch - Blackhill 1st time up

Clive on Blackhill 1st time up (too easy with that smile)

Over Blackhill and into Noordhoek, now we head towards Kommetjie, over the climb out of Kommetjie there were some hard attacks and as this was now with the wind the speed was quite high, this created some gaps and we were able to see who was going to be a threat during this race, Daikin GU, Anderson Transport & Aurecon were well represented at this point with full teams but Cycle Lab and MTN Club 100 looked less represented at the front of the bunch.

On the drag up toward the Cape Point Nature Reserve Charles Soloman attacked and went away alone, riding for Daikin GU Sub Vet this year (Previously an Elite) he was always going to be a big threat and a great rider on his own, Robbie notice the danger and opportunity and attacked to join him, this was great for both Daikin and Aurecon as we now had better control of the race, leaving the likes of Anderson Transport, MTN Club 100 and Cycle Lab to do the chasing.

There was no real organisation amongst the teams not in the break and by the time we reached the Maritime Reaction Squadron concrete road the break had nearly 2 minutes.

The bunch was still quite big at this stage but it was about to change, turning left onto a very narrow and steep climb to the top of the Maritime Reaction Squadron the climbers stretched the race, Anderson Transport had 3 strong climbers and had missed the break so they were doing most of the work, closely watch by 2 Daikin GU riders (Chris Botha & Shaun Roos) as well as 2 Aurecon riders (Clive Seebregts and Myself) along with some others, over the top there was a group of 8 then a group of 4 then a group of 6, these groups re-grouped on the descent, forming a main chase group of 18.

Bunch on the lower slopes of Maritime Reaction Squadron concrete road

Break forming on Marine Concrete road

Next up was our 2nd climb of Blackhill and then the final climb to the finish on top of Ou Kaaps. Blackhill was again neutralised by the wind, Anderson Transport doing most of the work with some minor help from MTN Club 100 and Cycle Lab. By now it looked like Charles and Robbie would stay away and they did just that.

Robbie away with Charles - Blackhill 2nd time up

Anderson Transport Chasing - Blackhill 2nd time up

Turning toward Ou Kaaps and the attacks started in the chase group, firstly John Wakefield from Anderson Transport then Chris Botha from Daikin GU, just testing the legs of the others in the group and clearly at this stage there were only about 6 riders that were still strong enough to make each move, Clive Seebregts had a couple of digs off the front and was showing some strong form.

Turning left onto Ou Kaaps and with less than 5 km to go the groups split into pieces, 8 riders going away and the rest dropping in one’s and two’s.

The race at this stage was, 2 away (Robbie & Charles) then 8 (including Clive) then a group with myself , Luke Hardiman (MTN Club 100), John O’Conner (Daikin GU) and a few others.

Charles rode away from Robbie just before the top to take the win, Robbie in 2nd, the sprint for 3rd was taken by Chris Botha with Clive pulling his foot out in the sprint but finishing 6th, i came home in 12th.

A good start to the summer for Team Aurecon, 1 rider on the podium, 3 riders in the top 20 and in the points, results and team classification are not available yet but we should be in 2nd in the team competition.

Charles taking the win from Robbie

Boyd finishing (12th) that last 2km hurt

Top 3 (Charles 1st, Robbie 2nd, Chris 3rd)

December Racing & Welcome to 2011

It’s been a while since my last blog; there has been no road racing on since the final of the Pro Classic Spring League except the Double Century which was tough (more later) and the Burger which I missed. I have however been racing on the track as well as putting in some serious mileage as a base for the summer league and 2011 racing.

So after the last Pro Classic event back in November 2010 I rode the Double Century with Team Condor London, this was a team made up of riders from Team Aurecon and a number of riders that rode for Team Condor London the previous year where they had finished just outside the top 10 and just outside a sub 6 hr. The target was to ride a top 10 and sub 6hr, Warren Scott had been very busy in the build up to make sure the team was fully informed of the requirements to achieve this target, we had a schedule and we were going to ride to this in military style.

On the line

On the day however it was clear at about 40km that we were well ahead of the target and the schedule was now out the window, the team rode extremely well together with a very high tempo. Robby Rodrigues was the main instigator to the tempo and assisting the slower riders on the climbs.

Jacques van Zyl Pacing

At about 80km I was thinking if we keep this tempo I might not finish and I was going to get dropped at about 120km but we kept going. At about 120km I started to get a little cramp (purely down to the lack of base miles) but I worked through the cramp and was able to continue working with the team until 185km where we split and allowed the strongest riders to continue to the finish.

185km to go - Finished!!!

Even Robbie needed a push toward the end

The team did a 5h41min and we finished 5th, myself and Jacques van Zyl rode to the finish in pain and did 5h50min. This was the start of my base training!!!

Then to my track racing, I rode Cape Town Grand Prix at the Bellville Velodrome. Three main events on the program for me, the Madison (an event you ride in teams of 2 and hand sling each other in and out the race – see more here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madison_(cycling) ), the Elimination Race (the last rider over the line each lap is eliminated until 3/4 riders sprint for the placings) and the Points Race (my favourite by far, ever 10 laps riders sprint for points, the rider at the end of the event with the most points is the winner)

Elimination Race - Cape Town GP

I finishing 2^nd in the Madison with Jeanne Nell, then I rode the Elimination race from the front, trying to keep a high tempo and stay out of trouble, I finished 3^rd after a little confusion as to how many riders would sprint to the line. Then to the Points race, I tried to collect points early on and then sit in and watch the event unfold, I was able to win the first 2 sprints and collect a few minor points in the middle of the race. Toward the end I was in a 2 way battle with Réniell Matthysen, thinking I needed to win the last lap I went for a long sprint but lost out to Réniell and a rider that was away. In the end, after the point had been counted, I had done enough during the race to win by 2 points from Réniell in 2^nd and Hannes Basson in 3^rd. A good ending to a hard evenings racing.

Elimination Race - Cape Town GP

Next up was Boxing Day, the oldest track event in the country with one of the most famous trophies in South African track cycling.

On the program for me was a Points Race, Elimination Race, 1 mile invitation and the 25 Mile invitation.

It was a hot and windy day in Paarl, I rode the points race first and was active early on, a break got away with about 6 riders which included one of the days favourites, Dean Edwards, myself and a few others, including the 2009 25 mile champion, James Perry, tried to close the gap. The break split up and only 2 riders stayed away, leaving myself and James Perry to fight for the 3^rd place, in the end Edwards was 1^st, Symonds was 2^nd and I had done enough during the early part to secure 3^rd from Perry in 4^th

Points Race - Paarl Boxing Day

Points Race Podium - Paarl Boxing Day

Again I rode the Elimination race from the front and tried to maintain a high tempo, it was hot and windy and was difficult to do this for too long, with the 25 mile in the back on my mind; I made a silly mistake when there were 6 riders left and was eliminated.

Elimination Race - Paarl Boxing Day

 

I rode the 1 mile invitation but this is a sprinters event and so I tried my luck from a long way out but was caught with 150m to go.

Then onto the big event of the day, the Boxing Day 25 Mile.

45 riders started, the wind from earlier had drop a little but not much, the race started with a very high speed with many attacks which lead to nothing.

Eventually a move did get a gap. After about 35 laps 9 riders got to half a lap up on the bunch, I saw this as a very dangerous move as most of the favourites (except James Louter & Réniell Matthysen) were in the break. I attacked and took Réniell with me, going as hard as I could to get across but Réniell disappeared back to the bunch. I got across and the break was now 10 and we were at half a lap.

The break started to play a game of cat and mouse as we had a few riders not contributing to the effort of staying away. I tried an attack to try enticing them to race and as I did so I puncture my rear disc wheel. Not great but I get laps out to change the wheel, the Commisarre tells me you have 4 laps so don’t panic, cool, so a wheel change and back into the group I was in (i.e. the break) except there was no break, the bunch had caught us!!!

Now this looked like a bunch sprint, with 20 laps to go I attacked again, riding alone for about 5 laps I eventually get caught, with 12 laps to go I puncture again!!!! Now I’m not happy, the Commisarre tells me you only get a lap, which is impossible to change a wheel, so by the time my wheel is changed I am half a lap down, I chase for 2 laps but not really making much on the bunch, the Commisarre then tells me actually you can wait for the bunch, nice one Commisarre, now I have 6 laps to recover for a bunch sprint, thanks for nothing!!!!

I got into the right position for the sprint, sitting on Dean Edwards wheel but with 200m to go and at full speed in the sprint I had no legs left, I had no luck but that’s bike racing.

The race was won by Réniell Matthysen, followed by James Louter in 2^nd, both had missed the original move, that just shows you, NEVER GIVE UP!!!!

Now onto the season ahead, our new team was launched recently, sponsored again by Aurecon.

 

Team Aurecon Launch

We will be riding Cat 1 events in Western Cape and most of the larger events around the country, including the SA road championships in Port Elizabeth & EP Herald to name just a couple.

We have a full calendar of events up to the end of March with some weekends having 2 events; this also includes the Tour of Boland (if we can get a ride)

The summer is going to be a lot tougher than the spring with most events taking in some serious climbing and the fact that the Cat 1 racing is with some of the top Elite riders in the country but this is what makes you strong, so I say, as much as it hurts, BRING IT ON!!!!

Team Aurecon - team training

 

Final round of Pro Classic Series Spring League

This weekend was the final round of the Pro Classic Series – Spring League, held at Klein Joostenberg on a rolling hills course. Team Aurecon had one small job to do and that was to protect 3rd place on GC which was held by Clive Seebregts.

Diakin chasing an early move

The race was very aggressive by a number of teams, Club 100 wanted to try dislodge Diakin for the team prize and so were on the attack from early on, Team Aurecon were very active in putting a rider of two in every move of the day and Diakin were trying to protect 1st and 2nd on GC and the team prize.

Jacques Van Zyl was super strong for Team Aurecon making massive efforts to cover almost every move and found himself away in a small group on a number of occasions; this helped with less need for Clive, Boyd or Robbie to cover every move.

We had a plan to attack at every opportunity to try make the race as hard as possible and Robbie was on form with his aggressive counter attacking, finding himself away and in many moves during the race and in the last 10km he was the most aggressive rider, riding away from the bunch with 5 km to go and putting the Diakin team under pressure to chase. This meant that Diakin had 3 riders on the front pacing into the wind and Robbie was caught with just less than 3km to go.

Robbie and Boyd away with Chris Botha

So it was another bunch sprint and a very deceiving finish too. You can see the line from about 1 km to go, it starts downhill but the last 200-300 meter is on an incline and the wind was a head wind.

Chris Botha opened sprint up very early, Clive sitting 2nd and me 3rd but too far out to go for the line, Chris died with 500 meters to go and the bunch started to come over us, both Clive and I got boxed in and I had to squeeze through a gap to have a run at the line but it was too late, i finished 4th and Clive was 5th. The results on the day were a little disappointing as Team Aurecon never got on the podium when we were more than capable but we did the job we needed to do and that was to protect Clive’s 3rd place.

Sprint Finish - from front

Sprint Finish - from side

That brings an end to the Spring League for Team Aurecon, our GC results were Clive 3rd, Boyd 9th and Robbie 10th. Three riders in the top ten is good, we were by far the most aggressive team and feel next year we could win the Team and GC with a little more team focus.

(Pictures Courtesy of Torque Pics)