Neotel's Johann Rabie outsprinted Darren Lill and Nick White to cross the line as the official winner of the inaugural Die Burger Fietstoer. Jennie Stenerhag, riding for Dutch team, Therme Skincare, was the first woman to cross the finish line.
Behind them followed over 6,000 cyclists who had entered the event – many of whom participating in the 101km route to improve their starting time at the 2008 Cape Argus Pick ‘n Pay Cycle Tour.
Stellenbosch played host to the event, with supporters gathering on Paul Roos Gymnasium's Markötter Fields.
Great inaugural event
David Bellairs of the organising team described the event as a success and expressed his thanks to the participants and the communities along the route for supporting Die Burger Fietstoer.
“There were obviously some issues that one can associate with an inaugural event and we learnt some valuable lessons today.
“One of the biggest incidents of the day was a trench dug across the route outside Wellington late last week. And although there were undertakings to repair the obstacle prior to the event, this proved to be insufficient and caused many burst tyres, buckled wheels and pinch flats,” added Bellairs.
Despite these challenges, participants describe the race as “a nice day for a bike ride”, “nicely organised” and a “great end-of-season route”.
Edmund Beukes, publicity manager of Die Burger – naming rights sponsor of the event – described the races as an “example of excellent collaboration between a sponsor and organiser, and a fantastic inaugural event.”
“It was the perfect day for a cycling race. Weather conditions were excellent and we had a great turnout.”
“We were also extremely pleased by the buy-in and hard work of the Stellenbosch Municipality, and it was great to draw on the extensive experience of the organisers, the Cape Town Cycle Tour Trust.”
Results
The race results are as follows:
101km Men 1st Johann Rabie (2.27.02) 2nd Darren Lill (2.27.02) 3rd Nic White (2.27.02)
Women 1st Jennie Stenerhag (2.52.08) 2nd Anriette Schoeman (2.52.08) 3rd Jane Seggie (2.52.08)
Tandem 1st Uwe Schmidt & Lourens Calitz (2.30.20) 2nd Andrew Gouws Snr & Andrew Gouws Jnr (2.38.03) 3rd Corneil Hitchcock & Karel van Wyk (2.40.24)
Sub-Vet (30 - 39) 1st Neil Swarts (2.38.50) 2nd Sean Miller (2.38.50) 3rd Neil Bradford (2.38.55)
Vet (40 +) 1st Vincent Bergh (2.40.06) 2nd Alwyn de Kock (2.40.06) 3rd Enzo Lezzi (2.40.07)
44km Men 1st Clint Hendricks (1.10.59) 2nd Peter van Wyk (1.15.18) 3rd Chumani Mkhungwana (1.18.31)
Women 1st Melisa Ludidi (1.25.10) 2nd Louise Kitson (1.25.10) 3rd Annen Koch (1.25.34)
...and Burger is born
A little puppy on the route, some 20km from the finish, caused quite a stir when the women's breakaway bunch almost stopped the race to come to its rescue.
Anriëtte Schoeman and teammate Jeanine Binneman noticed the stressed puppy in the middle of the road and asked Proline team manager, Alex Cooper, to pick it up and bring it to the finish.
“The little dog has since been named Burger, after the event during which it was rescued, and has been adopted by Binneman,” says Cooper.
A feel-good finish to a great day.
Visit our PRESS OFFICE: Die Burger is the biggest daily in the Western Cape. Separate editions are published for the Western and Eastern Cape. Drivers in the circulation department travel about 25 000 km a day to deliver newspapers.- more....
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