Victory at the Tshwane Classic in Pretoria today was sweet for Carla Oberholzer, who narrowly missed out last year due to a miscalculation.
Oberholzer, who has enjoyed a highly successful 2018 season, soloed to victory in the 98km feature race, beating her Demacon teammate Kim le Court into second by almost a minute. Juanita de Waal followed closely behind her in third.
Victory at the Tshwane Classic in Pretoria today was sweet for Carla Oberholzer (pictured), who narrowly missed out last year due to a miscalculation. Photo: Supplied
The South African national road champion was left disappointed at last year’s inaugural Tshwane race after losing out in the final sprint to Yzette Oelofse “because I didn’t know exactly where the finish was”.
“This morning we rode the last couple of kilometres with a car as I didn’t want to make that same mistake again,” Oberholzer told In the Bunch.
“Luckily I didn’t have to sprint as I got away solo on the [Tom Jenkins] climb. Winning the 2018 race meant a lot to me.”
She said her team pretty much “made the racing” today after forcing a break of five riders at about the 50km mark.
The break comprised her, Le Court, De Waal, Sanet Coetzee and Zanri Rossouw.
“We took some time to establish a proper gap but we worked well together,” Oberholzer said.
“On the Tom Jenkins climb I [then] pushed the pace a bit from the bottom after a good run-in from Kim.
“I wanted to see how the others would respond but realised immediately I had created a gap so I kept riding a decent pace up the climb.”
She added that on the other side of the climb she settled into a steady rhythm and maintained that until the finish.
Demacon has been the dominant women’s road team this season, with Oberholzer, Le Court and Lynette Burger all getting a taste of victory.
“The key to our success is that we race as a unit and communicate well,” Oberholzer said.
“We take each race as it comes and we don’t compete for multiple titles or series rewards.
“In doing so, we put all our energy into each event and the good results follow,” she said, adding that the team chemistry was strong.
“We have fun and we laugh a lot. You have to love what you do and who you are doing it with.”
The 947 Cycle Challenge in Johannesburg on November 18 is the team’s next big focus.
“By now I think everyone knows that as a team we race to win. As long as a Demacon rider wins the 947 then we’ll be happy.”
