“I tried to go early,” said an elated Yolandi du Toit in her post-race interview, minutes after outwitting her race competitors to post a massive 6 minute-plus victory in today’s Pick ‘n Pay 94.7 Cycle Challenge in Joburg.
Rather than allow the sprinters to slow down the race for a fast finish, she broke early to take a winning advantage on her own terms. “I had rhythm, and I was just going to keep on going, I didn’t look back,” Du Toit added.
Du Toit opened up a very early 4-minute lead in ideal stealth, seemingly evading the attention of everyone including the commentary team, in what is estimated to be the largest winning margin in the race’s 10-year history.
Proline’s Anriette Schoeman secured second place for the powerful Proline Computers team, but the gap of more than six minutes to first place will be sobering news.
Defending champion Ronel van Wyk (Bionic/Rauch Ice Tea) finished strongly in the chasing pack, despite spending the past three days at the Cycle Challenge Experience Expo in pursuit of her new Red Rocket business venture.
But in bizarre fashion, none of the big guns in the chase pack appeared to try to close down the gap on Du Toit, when she broke away on an explosive burst on a steep incline, with 50 kilometers to go in the race.
Du Toit made it a superb two wins in the day for sponsor Konica-Minolta colours, who outwitted favoured teams Barloworld and Microsoft to take a win on the steep 1.8km final stretch with a spectacular sprint.
* Provisional Report published prior to official race results confirmation, full details to follow.
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