National U23 road champion Marc Pritzen won his first Takealot Tour of Good Hope road race cycle title by claiming the final stage honours in the Cape Winelands today.
The country’s premier road tour, presented by the City of Drakenstein, ended in windy conditions, with the last stage of 66.7km finishing at the Taal Monument, just outside Paarl.
As the race drew to a climax, Pritzen used his power on the hills to finally shake off Jason Oosthuizen (TEG Procycling) for the yellow jersey.
Marc Pritzen crosses the finish line at the Taal Monument near Paarl to win the 66.7km fifth and final stage of the Takealot Tour of Good Hope road cycle race in the Cape Winelands today. The result gave him the overall title as well. Photo: Full Stop Communications
The OfficeGuru Racing rider completed the stage in 1:43:08 for an overall time of 9:57:15, 21 seconds ahead of the second-placed Oosthuizen. Frans Claes (Alfa Bodyworks/Giant), who was third on the stage, also finished third overall.
Byron Munton, also Alfa Bodyworks/Giant, finished in second place in today’s stage.
Overnight leader Dylan Girdlestone suffered a puncture on the final stage and finished in eighth place overall, about three minutes behind the winner.
Nolan Hoffman (Team Enza) won the sprints category ahead of Yousif Mirza Alhammadi (Team Emirates UAE) and Gustav Basson (TEG Procycling).
The King of the Mountain title went to HB Kruger (Alfa Bodyworks/Giant), with Pritzen second and Steven van Heerden (Team Enza) third.
Pritzen said they had planned the day differently, with his initial role being to secure the stage win and allowing Girdlestone to retain his overall top position.
“But the wind was blowing so hard when we woke up this morning, we knew it would not be an easy ride.”
When Byron Munton (Alfa Bodyworks/Giant) sparked a breakaway about 15km into the stage, Pritzen was on his wheel and decided to go with him.
“There was quite a big group that got away and the gap went to 45 seconds,” he said.
“Then 10km later the gap went out to 2:45 and it was a bit risky so I decided I was done working and I sat on the back.”
Catherine Colyn celebrates her win on the 66.7km fifth and final stage of the Takealot Tour of Good Hope road cycle race at the Taal Monument near Paarl in the Cape Winelands today. Behind her is Maja Wloszczowska, who won the women’s overall title. Photo: Full Stop Communications
That was followed by a tactical battle before Pritzen eventually rode across to the front group with about 4km left.
“At the bottom of the final climb to Taal Monument, Byron made the pace nice and hard, but I accelerated and went through, with Jason on my wheel.
“I went again, but he was still there, so I went once more and that was enough to get away for the win.”
Having set the Tour of Good Hope as one of his goals for the year – the first having been achieved at the national road champs – Pritzen was delighted with the outcome.
“It is very satisfying to win this tour for the first time and all the credit must go to the team, both riders and management, for the roles they played in making it possible,” he said.
In the women’s race, Catherine Colyn claimed the final stage honours in 2:20:42, but first-time entrant Maja Wloszczowska of Poland retained her overall lead for the yellow jersey.
Wloszczowska, who will be riding the Cape Epic later this month with Kross Fit Racing teammate Ariane Luthi, finished three seconds behind Colyn for an overall time of 12:42:37.
Luthi, third on the day, was second in the general classification in 12:47:08, followed by Colyn in 12:52:17
The Polish rider was delighted to win the title.
“There was good competition, some great climbs and a tough time-trial, so I am very happy with the win,” said Wloszczowska.
“The best for me was winning the queen stage of 145km with some hard climbs and that shows my fitness is pretty good.”
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