Schoeman Edges Daily Dispatch Cycle Tour Win

Anriette Schoeman (Mecer Africa Silks) successfully defended her title in the Daily Dispatch SPAR Cycle Tour in East London this past weekend.

The ladies started the 100km race with the Vets 40 plus. Within the first 7km the bunch was under huge pressure on the notorious 4km Hemmingway climb.

The Cycle Lab vets took control on the climb, setting a fast pace which caused the bunch to disintegrate into three main groups. Schoeman and Allison Hertel (Mecer NMMU) climbed shoulder to shoulder with the men leaving the other ladies behind.

With 88km to go, the time gap between the main bunch and chasing bunch grew to 35 seconds. Schoeman showed true form on the day when she took the QOM on the Fort Jackson climb, 28km into the race.

This gap grew to four minutes at the turning point, 50km into the race. At this point it was clear that Schoeman and Hertel would not be caught by the chasing ladies.

Schoeman outsprinted Hertel to finish first, with Hertel taking a well-deserved second place. Kirsten de Beer (Mecer) managed to out sprint Lauren Coleman to finish third.