Conradie Unbeatable in Africycle

Engela Conradie has cycled to an emphatic victory in the four-day 2007 Selati Africycle Pro Tour Stage Race in Mpumalanga.

  

The annual Selati Africycle Tour presented by Toyota was
held from 9-15 September 2007 in Mpumalanga, and Engela Conradie (Proline
Computers) took a convincing overall win in the tough four-day Pro Tour Stage
Race.

The 96 kilometres first stage started in Nelspruit, and from
the gun the racing was very hard on the long undulating climbs towards
Lydenburg. The ladies raced with the Veteran Men 30-50+ group, and the big
challenge on the day was the 28 kilometres climb up Long Tom-Pass, coming 50
kilometres into the race.

The first hotspot of the tour arrived 35 kilometres into the
day, and it was here that Conradie first signaled her intentions, riding clear
of the rest of the ladies. Leatitia Botha (Standard Bank) put up a solid chase,
but could not follow the wheel as Conradie accelerated on the first major climb
of the day.

On the long and steep Long Tom Pass, Conradie opened an even bigger gap
as the temperatures rose over 40 degrees in hot and humid conditions, to take the
Queen of the Mountains on top of the climb for a lead of four minutes over Botha.

The long 20 kilometres descent towards Lydenburg was fast
and furious, but Conradie maintained the gap to take the stage four minutes
ahead of Botha, with Patricia Constikon (Standard Bank) taking third 10 minutes
behind the winner.

Day two heralded the longest stage of the tour, and the
riders faced a 124 kilometre distance from Lydenburg to Blyde
River Canyon
over two murderous climbs, Robbers
Pass and the very steep
Bonnet Climb.

Once again the temperatures were very high, and 35 kilometres
into the day the riders started up the 12 kilometres Robbers Pass.
Conradie immediately opened a gap on the two chasing ladies, but Constikon rode
her heart out in an attempt to catch Conradie.

She kept Conradie in sight for most of the climb, but Conradie
accelerated towards the top of the climb to take the Queen of the Mountains and
a three-minute gap at the top of the climb.

With a devil descent down towards Pilgrim’s Rest, Conradie
opened an even bigger gap, and on the steep six kilometres Bonnet Climb she
showed her true power, opening a gap over 10 minutes on the chasing ladies.

The last 60 kilometres from Graskop to Blyde River
was a very hard undulating course, and Conradie had to time-trail solo into a
strong head-wind.

The chasing ladies joined a group of some of the men, and
closed the gap down to two minutes by the finish, but once again Conradie
showed why she is one of the best time-trail specialists in South Africa, taking
the stage and increasing her overall lead to seven minutes on Leatitia, and 15
minutes on Constikon.

The short 88 kilometres Stage 3 saw the weather take a turn
for the worse, and the start was unsettled by a gale-force wind and below-15
degree temperatures, but the race started very fast on the mostly uphill route.

Attack after attack was launched by the veteran men, and
after five kilometres the bunch broke into several groups. Conradie managed to
make it into the main group, and quickly opened a big gap on her rivals.

After about 40 kilometres, Conradie was once again on her
own as the Vet Men she was with joined the 7-day Riders group, which does not
allow ladies to ride with them.

But she showed her climbing and time-trailing ability, as
she opened the time-gap even more on the chasing ladies, which was in a bunch
of eight Vet Men, as Conradie climbed the famous God’s Window Pass
near Graskop.

The quick descent down into Sabie saw Conradie flying
towards the finish, and she took the stage by nine minutes. Botha managed to
open a gap on Constikon on the final kilometre uphill sprint, and finished in
second. Meanwhile, Conradie increased her overall lead to 15 minutes.

The final 96 kilometres stage from Sabie to Nelspruit was
the fastest of the tour, and the race started very fast, with the first 22
kilometres covered in half an hour, with the riders wanting to get to the
finish as quickly as possible, and after 25 kilometres Conradie was once again out
in front.

Managing to get into a Vets Bunch, the short sharp climbs on
the route were enough for Conradie to take an easy nine minutes win on the day,
for an emphatic four stage wins in four days, while Botha stayed clear of Constikon
to consolidate her second place overall, 25 minutes behind Conradie.