The bunch tactics played into the hands of recently retired Gawie Combrinck, who won the Race to the Sun at Sun City in North West today.
The 33-year-old, who retired from professional cycling last month, finished the 167km mountain bike event ahead of Pieter du Toit and Nico Bell.
The race started fast, with a couple of unsuccessful attacks early on.
“We rode mostly together and at about 60km a move went,” said Combrinck.
While the chasing bunch brought the riders back, Combrinck said he saw his opportunity and broke away.
“They left me to go ahead. From there I just rode at a pace I could maintain.”
The gap between Combrinck and the rest of the field fluctuated. At one point it reached around four minutes, before shrinking.
Gawie Combrinck claimed victory at the Race to the Sun in North West today. Photo: Diego Fernando Vargas
“But with Nico [Bell] not helping them [the bunch] to chase me down no one really committed to bring me back.”
The Nelspruit resident said it always felt good to win a race, even though he was not cycling professionally anymore.
“I still had the entry from earlier this year and when I first said I was going to retire I thought this race would be a good one to try and win for the last time.”
He decided to ride for the fun of it, even though his leg had been “bugging” him while cycling over the past two months.
He said fortunately his medical condition only made racing more difficult when he rode really hard.
“Today I rode my own tempo mostly and just below the limit where my leg becomes a problem.”
He said life had been “lekker” since he stopped riding professionally.
He only trained when he wanted to.
“If I don’t feel like it I go out on my motorbike. I’ve also been riding with cycling groups more as I don’t have to do intervals anymore.”
He said he was also giving coaching courses and had no other races planned at this stage.
