Carla Oberholzer overcame adversity to claim her third win in a row at the Amashova Durban Classic today.
After suffering two fractures this year, the 32-year-old was not sure what to expect heading into the race and said any good result would be a bonus.
“I’m super grateful after winning today,” said the Demacon rider.
“It’s a good indicator that we’re on the right track. It’s encouraging and really motivates me to continue working hard from here on forward.”
Carla Oberholzer claimed her third win in a row at the Amashova Durban Classic today. Photo: The Digital Media Collective
Oberholzer said the Cycle Nation team set the pace on the Fox Hill climb, before Demacon took over and sent Azulde Britz on the attack near the top, 10km into the 106km race.
“When she got closed down, Kim le Court attacked and then I countered Kim’s move, which resulted in a small break with me and Parys Edwards.
“Joanna van de Winkel closed this down with Kim and Tiffany [Keep] coming across as well.
“This was closed down quickly by the chasing bunch and immediately Azulde and Lynette [Burger] countered with Taneal Otto and they quickly got a gap of more than two minutes.”
Oberholzer said their instructions were to start racing on the climb at Inchanga, so she raced hard from the bottom and down the first descent.
“Kim then set the pace on the second part of the climb and Jo took over, which resulted in me, Jo and Parys crossing over to Lynette, Azulde and Taneal.
“Unfortunately both Taneal and Lynette had mechanicals and dropped off.
“Azulde did a phenomenal job out in front today, so she was spent at that stage. She gave every last bit she had and eventually it was just myself, Jo and Parys.”
Oberholzer said they rolled well to the finish and she had confidence in her sprint against the two.
“I wasn’t sure how far we still had to go, but I knew more or less when we were coming into the finishing straight.
“Parys was on the front with Jo on her wheel and me behind Jo.
“Jo seemed to start sprinting to the left of Parys and I panicked and opened up my sprint way too early to the right of Parys, into the wind.
“I knew once I committed I had to keep going, but I was nervous right until I crossed the finish line.”
Oberholzer said she loved the route, saying it was nicely varied with climbing, descents and some tight corners.
“It basically has the perfect make-up for an interesting race.
“Compared to last year, I think only the last couple of kilometres changed a bit but the sprint was still the same, so it didn’t affect the outcome at all.”
The highlight for her was the positive racing on the day.
“The ladies rode a good race and it’s encouraging to see so many of them competing.”
Next for the former national road champion is next weekend’s National Classic Cycle Race, followed by the Tshwane Classic on November 3 and the 947 Ride Joburg on November 17.
“This was for sure a confidence booster as I head into the final events of the season.
“I believe success breeds success and I hope we can keep the momentum going into the upcoming races.”
