After four days of losing sprints and missing hot-spots, Parys Edwards claimed victory in the final stage of the Tour of Good Hope.
Parys Edwards claimed a surprising victory at the Tour of Good Hope by one second on Friday. Photo supplied
What she didn’t expect was that this crucial win yesterday would be enough to make her the overall winner by just one second.
“I’m still in shock. It took me four days to get my hands on a jersey and the whole week I was losing by a whisker,” Edwards told In the Bunch.
“I’m not sure I fully believed I’d get the overall win, but I was targeting stage five for sure.”
Edwards finished the fifth stage ahead of Lucy James and Marie-Zanne de Kock. During the final stage she overtook De Kock, who was in the overall lead for four days.
The 43-year-old, who was competing in the event for the first time, said she was just grateful to have taken the win on the fifth stage. She did not expect to hear she had snatched the overall lead.
“I thought I hadn’t had enough time when I crossed the line. I just lay on the ground and congratulated Lucy and Marie-Zanne and felt grateful to take the stage.
“I only found out that I had taken the overall lead about 10 minutes later and couldn’t believe it. Marie-Zanne was incredibly gracious. Really, she made me work so hard and I think we will see lots more of her to come.”
The Henneways Karan Beef rider said the steep finish up to the Taal Monument on the final stage suited her and helped in her push for the win.
“I just love attacking a climb. I cope with a result so long as I know I gave everything. So when I’m hurting I ask if I can give anything more.
“I had no idea where I would feature, but after the end of the first stage I set my sights on a podium finish overall.”
During the final stage Edwards aimed to drop De Kock during the first climb, but found it was not steep enough.
“After the first climb we regrouped with the bunch. I must thank BestMed riders Nicola [Biani] and Stacey [Paul] for doing all the work at the front of the bunch to the base of the monument.
“I was worried the last climb was too short to make up 22 seconds so I attacked from the bottom and halfway up really thought I had overcooked it.
“I honestly didn’t think I had enough of a gap and was happy to win the stage, but I didn’t even consider I’d get the win until they told me.”
Edwards has recently transitioned to cycling after a career as a professional triathlete.
“The win here is a real confidence boost. I work full time as a sports physio with my own clinic in Joburg. It’s a real juggle to fit training in but I’d still like to be competitive and help my team Henneways Karan Beef do well this season.”
She said she had arrived at the event a little undertrained due to poor health and a busy work schedule.
“The first stage hurt the most and it was super disappointing to be in a break of four and come fourth.
“I loved stage two with the time-trial and rode myself into second overall but then finished fourth in stage three again, losing the sprint which was frustrating.
“I loved stage four the most as me, Lucy and Marie-Zanne broke early over Bains Kloof and decided to ride together for the long stage.
“I can’t thank those girls enough as it made the stage much quicker for us and so enjoyable not to worry about tactics. We just rode steady and shared the work.”
Edwards will be competing in the Cape Town Cycle Tour tomorrow and says she is looking forward to competing against a number of strong ladies.
“I’d love to see more women’s teams and more depth to the racing here. I think many strong girls were saving their legs for CTCT and possibly I’ll envy them on Sunday.”
