Tour of Good Hope photos: experience the journey

The five-stage Tour of Good Hope – which was won by Kent Main last year – took place in and around Paarl and started on Monday.

Experience the journey – through photos – of each stage below.

Photos courtesy of Robert Ward.

Stage one

On the first stage, riders took on a relatively flat 137km race, with just an 890-metre elevation. Nolan Hoffman won the elite men’s race and Vera Adrian the women.

Stage two

The second stage comprised of a 26.5km individual time-trial for the elites and juniors and a team time-trial for the more amateur riders. Stefan de Bod jumped into the yellow jersey after finishing the route with the fastest time. Ariane Luthi was the fastest in the women’s field.

Stage three

The third stage was the first of two queen stages, where riders took on a 137km route with an elevation of 2687-metres. Included in this, the stage finished on the decisive Du Toitskloof Pass, which broke the field up extensively. DiData’s Kent Main and teammate Stefan de Bod mastered this climb to simultaneously win the stage – with Main getting the final nod. Ariane Luthi won the women’s race to extend her lead on the general classification.

Stage four

The penultimate stage was won by Dimension Data’s Matteo Sobrero. The Italian beat ProTouch’s Reynard Butler and Team BCX’s Clint Hendricks for the top podium spot. The women’s race was won by overall leader Ariane Luthi, who rides for Team Spur. Team dormakaba’s Carmen Buchacher crossed the finish line in second, with Catherine Colyn in third.

Stage five

Team Dimension Data’s Stefan de Bod claimed overall victory on the final day after giving way to teammate Matteo Sobrero to take the stage. Kent Main took third spot and finished second overall, ahead of ProTouch’s Gustav Basson. The overall women’s race was won by Team Spur’s Ariane Luthi. She was followed home by Carmen Buchacher, who also took second place overall. Lucy James took third place in the general classification.