The BCX professional cycling team are focused on maintaining their momentum when the Bestmed Jock Classic road race takes place in Mpumalanga on Saturday.
Team members Chris Jooste and Marc Pritzen have kept their flag flying high recently, with Jooste winning the Knysna Cycle Tour this month and Pritzen taking the honours in the Kremetart in early June.
Along with David Maree and Steven van Heerden, they form the nucleus of a potent outfit, backed up by the formidable skills of Clint Hendricks.
However, the 26-year-old Hendricks, a Commonwealth Games bronze medallist this year, said he would again adopt a support role, the same strategy he used last year when team-mate Brendon Davids took the honours.
Steven van Heerden, who was runner-up last year, will be one of the key members of the BCX team as they target another title in the one-day, three-stage Bestmed Jock Classic cycling road race from Mbombela to Sabie in Mpumalanga on Saturday. Picture: Memories 4 U Photography
“I am targeting the big classics towards the end of the year so I’m not quite ready for this one yet,” said Hendricks.
“My focus will be very much on supporting my team-mates and making sure we deliver a win for the team.”
The format of the race necessitated a specific strategy over the three stages, he said.
“Normally what we try to achieve is not to lose any time on the opening stage, which is over a fast and flat course. Then you have to up the intensity on the second and third stages.”
He felt sections such as the climbs up Spitskop and Long Tom Pass on the second and third stages could be telling in the final outcome.
The 35th edition of the one-day event makes it one of the oldest road races in the country. It will test the riders over 151km, split into three stages, from Mbombela to Sabie, via White River, and then back to the start.
The first stage will take the peloton from Mbombela to White River over a distance of 42km. The second covers 45km to Sabie and the final stage will be raced over 63km back to Mbombela.
The Jock Classic, presented by Rudy Project, is a seeding event for the Cape Town Cycle Tour.
The event is open to all amateur riders and anyone interested can still enter today. For more information, go to www.thejock.co.za.
