MyVelo’s Eddie van Heerden won stage four of the Mpumalanga Tour, which took cyclists on a 140km journey from White River to Mbombela today.
Eddie van Heerden won the final three-man bunch sprint ahead of BCX’s Chris Jooste in second and NAD’s Matt Beers in third.
Eddie van Heerden won stage four of the Mpumalanga Tour in Mbombela today. Photo: twitter.com/ForeverResortSA
A leading bunch formed shortly after the neutral zone at the beginning of the race, which consisted of Luso pair Jaco van Dyk and Calvin Beneke, Randwater-Transnet’s Thando Zothe, Pro Touch duo Myles van Musschenbroek and James Fourie as well as BCX’s Clint Hendricks and Steven van Heerden.
Hendricks was leading at the first hotspot, 29km into the race, followed by Beneke and Van Musschenbroek.
At 40km Van Musschenbroek, Beneke, Hendricks and Van Heerden had the upper hand on the chasing bunch.
The first king of the mountain (at 43km) went to Van Musschenbroek with Hendricks and Beneke in second and third respectively.
Hendricks broke away at 56km to take the lead and was joined by Van Heerden and Sampada’s Jim Songezo.
At the 80km mark, Hendricks pulled ahead of his rivals to build a one-minute lead.
After entering Barberton, Hendricks was caught by the chasing riders.
Soon afterwards teammate Van Heerden put in a surge to break away from the bunch.
Hendricks, Van Heerden and NAD’s Matt Beers then led a 16-man bunch at the third hot spot 86km in.
ProTouch’s Gustav Basson then broke away, but was shortly later joined by Beers, ProTouch’s Eddie van Heerden and BCX’s Chris Jooste.
Eddie van Heerden, Beers, Jooste, ProTouch’s Jayde Julius and NAD’s yellow Nico Bell then won on the last climb with just eight kilometres to go.
Eddie van Heerden, Jooste and Beers then took the lead for the final bunch sprint, which the MyVelo rider won.
View the results below.
Stage four
Elite men
1. Eddie van Heerden (MyVelo) 4:04:44
2. Chris Jooste (BCX) 4:04:44
3. Matt Beers (NAD) 4:04:44
4. Nico Bell (NAD) 4:05:12
5. Brandon Downes (BCX) 4:05:12
6. Wessel Botha (NAD) 4:05:12
7. Jayde Julius (ProTouch) 4:05:12
8. Gustav Basson (ProTouch) 4:05:12
9. Thokozani Mahlangu (Sapada) 4:07:16
10. Calvin Beneke (Luso) 4:07:16
11. Andrew Edwards (Luso) 4:08:25
12. Jan Montshioa (Sampada) 4:09:14
13. Gawie Combrinck (NAD) 4:09:14
14. Jim Songezo (Sampada) 4:12:52
15. Steven van Heerden (BCX) 4:16:33
16. Clint Hendricks (BCX) 4:16:33
17. Tristan de Lange (Namibian Cycling) 4:19:59
18. Dirk Coetzee (Namibian Cycling) 4:19:59
19. Lincoln Yannick 4:20:04
20. David Maree (BCX) 4:21:55
General classification
1. Eddie van Heerden (MyVelo) 12:18:46
2. Chris Jooste (BCX) 12:18:50
3. Matt Beers (NAD) 12:18:59
4. Nico Bell (NAD) 12:19:23
5. Wessel Botha (NAD) 12:19:36
6. Jayde Julius (ProTouch) 12:19:43
7. Gawie Combrinck (NAD) 12:25:19
8. Calvin Beneke (Luso) 12:27:19
9. Gustav Basson (ProTouch) 12:28:28
10. Brandon Downes (BCX) 12:30:32
11. Andrew Edwards (Luso) 12:35:58
12. Jan Montshioa (Sampada) 12:39:21
13. Thokozani Mahlangu (Sapada) 12:41:35
14. Tristan de Lange (Namibian Cycling) 12:42:14
15. Lincoln Yannick 12:42:59
16. Clint Hendricks (BCX) 12:44:31
17. Dirk Coetzee (Namibian Cycling) 12:45:36
18. Mornay van Heerden (MyVelo) 12:48:09
19. Ryan Harris (Office Guru) 12:51:51
20. Jaco van Dyk (Luso) 12:56:25
