Cyclists shine through gloomy weather

Update

KNYSNA SPORT NEWS - Thousands of cyclists turned up for the start of Sunday 23 June's Knysna Cycle Tour road races despite chilly, overcast and wet conditions, to tackle the tough races that lay in wait.First-time winner of the Elite men's 116km race, 28-year-old Clint Hendricks (ProTouch Cycling), said it was a cold start but not too early and the race was "pretty aggressive" with lots of great riders and pro cycling teams supporting it. Hendricks' winning time was 2:56:10, beating Nolan Hoffman (Team Enza, 2:57:26) and Rainhardt Marais (Alpha Bodyworks) who was a split second behind Hoffman.

"We came here with five riders, lots of sprinters, not so many climbers, so we had our work cut out today.

There were lots of flurry attacks and we just had to be active," Hendricks said. "Eventually myself and Nolan rode across to a big group that got a big gap and there we just tried to keep it controlled. I attacked at the bottom of the climb and I had good legs and kept it all the way to the line."

The race featured a new route this year with a total ascent of 1 351m and a 2.1km section of gravel on the Seven Passes Road. "The gravel section was very interesting. It put something different into the race and I was open minded about it. For some reason I was very relaxed and calm the whole day. There was not a lot of pressure on the team or me to win the race.

"There were some good lines on the gravel that you could follow so it's not really dangerous. Obviously, the rain made it a bit soft, but it was pretty nice," said Hendricks.

Winner of the Elite women's race, Tiffany Keep, said that this was her first Knysna Cycle Tour event but she will definitely be back for more. She beat Lucy James (3:17:49) and Helen Gebreyesus (3:25:10).

The Cycle Tour's marketing director Andrew Finn said the weekend's cycling events went extremely well, despite the wet and windy conditions. "Yesterday's conditions were perfect for the mountain bikers because it wasn't too wet but today there was lots of rain.

"It didn't seem to dampen spirits and we were very pleased with the turnout and felt the event went smoothly."

Third-placed Rainhardt Marais, winner Clint Hendricks, and runner-up Nolan Hoffman. Photo: Blake Linder

James Fourie, Nolan Hoffman and Rainhardt Marais sprint towards the finish of the Knysna Cycle Tour in a bid to finish inside the top three. Photo: Blake Linder