Robyn de Groot’s Chong Ming Island Cycle Tour

 

The traveling required to get to Chong Ming Island was a lot longer than what we had anticipated and expected. When we arrived at the airport in Shanghai, we were welcomed by 3 Chinese men who were there to collect us and escort us to the hotel.
 

We had a 2 hour bus drive to get to the port, where we then had to load the bus onto the ferry and were taken to their “VIP” lounge on the ferry. The ferry ride also took forever.

Stepping off the ferry we were bombarded by cameramen and photographers, as we were welcomed onto the island.

 

Our luggage was collected by porters and taken to our respective rooms. The people were warm and friendly, and we were treated like royalty.

 

We had two days to acclimatize before the racing started. Other teams started arriving, eventually there were 16 teams participating in the event.

 

This was the first ladies cycle tour being held on the island, they had already hosted a men’s cycle tour in 2006. The event was extremely well organized.

 

The organization and management in terms of the South African (SA) team was also impressive. With Tony Harding (manager), Melvin (Mally) Claasen (mechanic) and Alistar Petersen (physiotherapist), we were in good hands. The accommodation was comfortable and within riding distance to the start of every stage.

 

The initial race was a 20km Time Trial on a relatively flat course, with wind playing a factor later on in the morning.

 

By the time Saturday 2nd June arrived, the 6 girls had spent a reasonable amount of time together on and off the bike, and had a good ‘vibe’ going.

 

Only 4 girls were allowed to do the Time Trial. We performed well, considering the fact that none of us had the time trial equipment that the competitors had, however not well enough in order to be awarded UCI points. The results of the Time Trial were totally separate to the tour.

 

An opening ceremony was held before the Criterium stage. Sunday 3rd June was a 65.6km criterium consisting of sixteen 4.1km laps, and Chong Ming Island basically came to a stand-still while the cycling took place, and the roads were well represented by spectators.

 

SA rode well, chasing any attacks, and riding aggressively. The Giant cycling team (Hong Kong), Vlaanderen Capri-sonne (Belgium), Australia national team, Vrienden Van Het Platteland (Netherlands) were teams we would have to watch out for, as they were strong and drove the pelaton hard.

 

There were 2 crashes in the Criterium, but luckily none of the SA girls were involved. We worked well together as a team, considering we didn’t have a training camp prior to the tour, and Lynette Burger placed 6th in the final sprint, at an average speed of 43.1km/h.

 

Monday 4th June was the Chongxi Circuit of 70.8km. The pace was intense from the start, with big attacks and efforts being put in by the Chinese, Dutch, and Belgian teams.

 

The SA team responded well to ensure that every attack was covered, and counterattacked, and we tried to keep 2 South African girls together in any break, in case a gap opened up.

 

During the last quarter of the stage there was some conflict arising between teams with some pushing, shoving and shouting taking place within the pelaton.

 

 

The SA girls stood their ground and gained respect from the other riders in the bunch, showing that we too were contenders for the race, and concluded the stage at an average speed of 41.5km/h.

 

Tuesday 5th June was the 72.8km Chongbei Circuit, and the stage was less “technical” than the previous day.

 

We started the race on wet roads and in misty conditions, which lead to intermittent rain during the stage and some muddy, slippery roads.

 

A break went off early in the race, which was well-controlled tactically by the Chinese teams, whose riders were working together to block the front of the road off completely, which made it very difficult to bridge the gap, which we were watching disappear down the road.

 

This blocking resulted in aggression and frustration being aimed at the Chinese riders, and the SA team took charge along with the help of the Australian, Dutch and Belgium teams to keep the Chinese riders out of the pace-line, and at the back of the bunch.

 

These teams worked well together, with much of the chasing being driven by the SA girls.

 

With approximately 10km  to the end, we managed to reel the leading bunch back into the pelaton, and from there on the pace was high, and there were a number of attacks and counterattacks taking place.

 

The bunch sprint was intense and hectic, and the stage was raced at an average speed of 42.3km/h.

Team Results After Stage 3:
1 Australian National Team (14.53.21)
2 Vrienden Van Het Platteland
3 Giant Pro Cycling Team
4 China Ningxia Team
5 China Hebei Team
6 South Africa National Team
7 China National Team
8 Thailand National Team
9 Vietnam National Team
10 Expresscopy
11 Vlaanderen – Capri Sonne – T Interim (0.09)
12 China JiangSu Team (0.15)
13 Mongolia National Team (49.55)

Up until this point in the tour all the SA ladies had finished with the bunch; the SA team was lying in 6th position, and we had a final stage of 100km to complete the tour.

 

As we started the final Chong Dong road stage of 100km on Wednesday 6 June, the tour was still up for grabs, with only a few seconds separating the various positions.

 

The weather was a lot better, and it was the first time we had seen the sun and the sky since we had been there.

 

The chief commassaire gave a warning with regard to the blocking, pushing and switching which had taken place on the previous 2 days, but the pace was slow to start, with games being played early on in the race.

 

The SA girls started taking control of the pace, along with the help of the Chinese teams, which is when the attacking started.

 

Chrissie Viljoen managed to get into an early break along with two other Chinese riders, but the remaining teams in the pelaton showed no signs of urgency to close the gap.

 

Viljoen managed to place second in one of the sprint primes, and kept driving hard up-front, but unfortunately SA missed the next break of a handful of girls, who managed to bridge the gap and join the front three girls.

 

 

 

The remaining SA girls worked well in the bunch, controlling the speed in order to avoid the front bunch being caught.

 

Then one of the front girls from China broke away to win the race, and Viljoen finished fifth in the final stage, which resulted in the SA team moving up, to finish the tour in fourth place, 23 seconds behind the winning team.

 

Team Results After Stage 4:
1 China JiangSu Team (22.22.57)
2 Giant Pro Cycling Team (0.02)
3 China Hebei Team (0.23)
4 South Africa National Team
5 Vlaanderen – Capri Sonne – T Interim (0.32)
6 Australian National Team (0.42)
7 Vrienden Van Het Platteland
8 China Ningxia Team
9 China National Team
10 Vietnam National Team
11 Thailand National Team
12 Expresscopy

It was an amazing experience and a great opportunity for me. To represent my country was very special, a dream come true, and I felt extremely proud to be wearing the SA green and gold.

 

I learnt a great deal from those with more experience than me, and I received support and advice from the SA management, which has had a positive influence on me.

 

I also learnt about myself during this tour. I still have a way to go and lots to learn, and I hope that I will be able to represent SA again in the future.

 

Thanks to all those individuals and organizations which made this tour possible. Thank you to Tony for putting up with us for the 10 days, and for his continuous encouragement and advice throughout the tour!