NAD’s Gawie Combrinck won stage three of the Mpumalanga Tour, which took cyclists along a 107km route from Mount Sheba to the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit today.
Combrinck’s teammate, Nico Bell, crossed the finish in second, followed closely by MyVelo’s Eddie van Heerden.
Gawie Combrinck won stage three of the Mpumalanga Tour in Nelspruit today. Photo: twitter.com/ForeverResortSA
The peloton divided early in the race when six riders chased the rest of the bunch with a minute gap.
Van Heerden and NAD pair, Bell and Matt Beers, were leading the bunch at the first hot spot about 15km in.
Team BCX’s yellow jersey, Chris Jooste, and ProTouch’s Jayde Julius then joined the leading group approximately 38km in.
Jooste, Van Heerden, Beers, Bell, Sampada’s Thokozani Mahlangu and BCX’s Brandon Downes all led the race at the first 43km hotspot.
Soon after, Jooste, Beers, Van Heerden and NAD’s Wessel Botha then broke away.
Bell later joined the four in front and they maintained their lead until the first climb 60km in.
The bunch fought hard for the first climb, before Van Heerden, Beers and Julius took the lead.
The yellow, Jooste, was riding in second, with Combrinck languishing in the middle of an eight-man bunch lead at the 80km mark.
Combrinck then managed to break away from the bunch and soloed to victory in the final sprint of the race.
Results can be viewed below:
Stage three
Elite men
1. Gawie Combrinck (NAD) 2:22:48
2. Nico Bell (NAD) 2:23:37
3. Eddie van Heerden (MyVelo) 2:23:37
4. Chris Jooste (BCX) 2:23:37
5. Matt Beers (NAD) 2:23:37
6. Wessel Botha (NAD) 2:23:37
7. Jayde Julius (ProTouch) 2:23:45
8. Thokozani Mahlangu (Sampada) 2:23:55
9. Calvin Beneke (Luso) 2:29:28
10. Mornay van Heerden (MyVelo) 2:29:28
11. Brandon Downes (BCX) 2:29:28
12. Gustav Basson (ProTouch) 2:29:28
13. Lincoln Yannick 2:29:28
14. Dirk Coetzee (Namibian Cycling) 2:29:28
15. Tristan de Lange (Namibian Cycling) 2:31:28
16. Ryan Harris (Office Guru) 2:36:46
17. James Fourie (ProTouch) 2:36:46
18. Shameeg Salie (Randwater-Transnet) 2:36:46
19. Mitch Eliot (ProTouch) 2:36:46
20. Jan Montshioa (Sampada) 2:36:46
General classification
1. Nico Bell (NAD) 8:14:12
2. Eddie van Heerden (MyVelo) 8:14:12
3. Chris Jooste (BCX) 8:14:14
4. Matt Beers (NAD) 8:14:20
5. Wessel Botha (NAD) 8:14:24
6. Jayde Julius (ProTouch) 8:14:31
7. Gawie Combrinck (NAD) 8:16:05
8. Calvin Beneke (Luso) 8:20:05
9. Tristan de Lange (Namibian Cycling) 8:22:15
10. Gustav Basson (ProTouch) 8:22:49
11. Lincoln Yannick 8:22:55
12. Brandon Downes (BCX) 8:25:20
13. Dirk Coetzee (Namibian Cycling) 8:25:37
14. Mornay van Heerden (MyVelo) 8:26:06
15. Andrew Edwards (Luso) 8:27:33
16. Clint Hendricks (BCX) 8:28:07
17. Ryan Harris (Office Guru) 8:29:56
18. Jan Montshioa (Sampada) 8:30:07
19. Luthando Kaka (Randwater-Transnet) 8:32:49
20. Thokozani Mahlangu (Sampada) 8:34:19
