Champion Stefan de Bod is aiming to make an impact when he defends his title in the Bestmed Tour of Good Hope, which starts in the Cape Winelands on Monday.
With the first stage on Monday, the country’s premier road stage race will feature some of South Africa’s top riders as they vie with a sprinkling of international contenders for the title over five days and 490km.
Dimension Data rider Stefan de Bod is motivated to retain the Bestmed Tour of Good Hope title when the five-day road race takes place in the Cape Winelands from March 6 to 10. Photo: Warren Elsom
Saying he was looking forward to his defending his title, De Bod said last year’s win was a major boost for his confidence.
Audio: Stefan De Bod on defending Tour of Good Hope title
“I had great support and the team really enjoyed the tour. It was one of the biggest wins of my career and I’m looking forward to defending the title,” he said.
Having grown up in Worcester in the Western Cape, the 20-year Dimension Data rider described the Cycling SA-sanctioned event, presented by Scicon and the City of Drakenstein as “a very special race”.
“As a young rider I trained daily in the region, and I still do when I’m in South Africa, so this will always be special to me,” he said.
With the national U23 road and time-trial titles, plus the African U23 time-trial crown, behind his name this year, De Bod has shown his form and potential.
Having won the Buffet Olives time-trial in last year’s Bestmed Tour of Good Hope, De Bod said this stage would again be central to the final outcome next week.
“Last year, I made enough time in the time-trial to defend the yellow jersey comfortably,” he said.
“The time-trial will definitely be an important stage in this year’s tour and I would like to win it again.”
This year’s time-trial route, which boasts a total ascent of 283 metres and has been shortened from 37km to 25km, will take place on the quieter roads in northern Paarl.
Following his Good Hope victory, De Bod raced in Europe, which he said had taught him many lessons.
“I struggled at the beginning to find my feet in the big European pelotons but got used to it after a while,” he said.
“I’ve learnt that you need to fight a lot more for a position in Europe and not to be intimidated by the well-known professionals.
“The year was just an unbelievable racing experience and I learnt a lot about myself and cycling.”
He added, however, that the year was marred by an accident in Italy when team-mate Keagan Girdlestone, who helped De Bod to last year’s Tour of Good Hope victory, suffered serious injuries.
De Bod acknowledged there would be plenty of competition in next week’s race, identifying RoadCover rider Willie Smit as one to watch. The Nelspruit ace recently won the road race title at the Continental Championships in Egypt.
“My teammate Nicholas Dlamini will also be in the mix and there are always a few strong international riders to watch,” said De Bod.
Among them are European mountain bike stars Karl Platt and Christoph Sauser, who will be going head to head the week after the tour in their respective bids to become the first six-time winner of the Cape Epic.
Former women’s champion Ariane Luthi, who finished third last year behind Annika Langvad and Sharon Laws, heads the list of title contenders.
The Spur rider should be tested by Lise Olivier, who was runner-up to Luthi two years ago, and Bestmed-ASG’s An-Li Kachelhoffer, who took silver in the national road race championships.
