An exciting opportunity arose which saw 4 of the Team DMS riders taking the 5 hour journey and border crossing to reach Eswatini for the MTN Khemani Classic. Nick James, Keanan Roodt and David Maree were all seasoned veterans of this race, while Jaco Van Dyk was heading in with a fresh set of eyes.
Other South African teams present at this race included Aluwani, Ekhuruleni Cycling Club and Proud Beginners. There were also multiple local Eswatini clubs represented.
Race day began with an extremely early start as the team needed to take the one hour journey from the hotel to the starting chute. The morning starting off very rocky as the hotel had confused the breakfast plans. On half empty stomachs, the team piled into the car to head to the race.
As we neared the race, the unfavourable conditions became clear with downpour and heavy mist our hopes were not looking high. Never the less, the riders began preparing themselves for the race that lay ahead.
Before the start it had been decided that the first 15km (the entire descent of the first climb) would be neutralised due to the thick mist that had settled over the mountain. Upon reaching the turn around point racing was on and the riders set off attacking up the climb. These attacks lead to a breakaway of three riders which included Nicholas James and Jaco Van Dyk from Team DMS and the Eswatini Champ from the MTN Khemani Cycling Club. These three riders would be the main characters for the rest of the race.
At the top of the climb rider Keanan Roodt experienced a technical with a front puncture. He spent most of his pennies getting back to the main bunch. By the time Keanan had reached the bunch, they had made headway towards the break away. Seeing this, Nick and Jaco had decided to sit up and wait. After all were back together, the attacks began again leading to a new breakaway containing all four Team DMS riders and Muzi Shabangu, the Eswatini Champion. From here the plan was to for one on one attacks to tire the champ out, however, he was a lot stronger than expected and gave our team a run for their money.
Eventually the breakaway of 5 came down to 3 as David Maree and Keanan Roodt dropped off. The time was now, and Jaco and Nick attacked leading to a small gap on Muzi. At the second turn around point, Keanan had caught up with Muzi while the gap from the break had increased greatly. Muzi carried out a large attack on the second last climb, but he had no more left to give and gave up his third placing to Keanan Roodt. Jaco Van Dyk and Nick James crossed the line together grabbing first and second place for the team. Muzi dropped back further leaving 4th place open to David Maree.
Team DMS walked away with all top 4 places as well as the King of the Mountain taken by Nick James. it was a super performance by the team. We are happy to show the quality of cycling in South Africa and hope that this will raise the bar of cycling within Africa.
(From Right; Jaco Van Dyk (2nd), Nicholas James (1st), Keanan Roodt (3rd))
Kommentare