Marc Pritzen enjoyed his second victory in a week when he claimed the overall title in the Vets & Junior Tour at Swadini in Mpumalanga today.
BCX’s Pritzen won his first elite title in the 175km Kremetart Cycle Race last week and backed that up by winning the combined junior and under-23 category in the four-stage Swadini tour, which started on Friday.
Marc Pritzen enjoyed his second victory in a week when he claimed the overall title in the Vets & Junior Tour today. Photo: Anthony Grote Photography
The 18-year-old, who only joined BCX in December, won three of the four stages – the 135km stage-one road race, the stage-two individual time trial and the third-stage criterium.
He then placed third in today’s 121km road race, but it was enough to grant him the overall spoils.
“I am really happy; it is always nice to win,” Pritzen told In the Bunch today. “My form is good at the moment and I think my confidence is growing as well, which helps a lot in races.”
Pritzen made a statement from the outset of the tour when he won stage one by a comfortable seven minutes.
He said, however, that he was a “marked man” after winning the Kremetart the previous week, so it was a challenge breaking away from the bunch.
“Two Office Guru riders broke away right at the beginning and I knew having two guys from the same team up the road would be dangerous.
“I then eventually caught the bunch napping and broke off the front with a Vander Group rider. Another Vander Group [cyclist] then joined us and we formed a five-man breakaway.
“Then with 30km left I went ahead and rode solo until I won.”
Pritzen then relished his time-trial win, which he said was his main focus.
“I really wanted to get a good time in the TT because it will be the same one that we will ride in the Lowveld Tour in August.
“It was quite tricky with wind and gusts blowing from all directions.”
The criterium was his highlight of the tour, Pritzen said. “It was a really hard criterium which is why it suited me quite well.
“I picked up the pace on the final climb, before just winning the final sprint.”
Rickardo Broxham soloed to victory in the fourth stage, but Pritzen said that tactically he just aimed to keep a close eye on Alexander Worsdale, who was lying second ln the general classification.
“When Rickardo attacked I was happy to let him go. Congratulations to him on taking the stage; it was a brilliant ride for him.
“But I just wanted to keep Alexander close to me as he was second on the GC, just over eight minutes behind me.
“It made my job easier with Rickardo having been ahead.”
Pritzen said one of his major challenges throughout the tour was not having any team support.
“I had to be so alert at all times, trying so hard not to make any mistakes. I could not rely on teammates to close gaps for me.
“I was forced to create situations that would suit me and I did that well today. I played it to my advantage with no one letting me get away.
“I decided who was getting away and when and then I relied on the other teams to close the gap on the break when the GC came under pressure.”
He will now turn his focus to the Jock Classic on July 14 where he will return as part of BCX’s set-up.
