The Team Bonitas professional road cycling team continued its good run of form on Sunday when Herman Fouche foiled two of the country’s fastest sprinters to claim victory at the BestMed Campus2Campus 95km road cycling race in Potchefstroom, North West Province.
Fouche clocked a winning time of 02 hours 10 minutes 44 seconds to relegate two of 2012’s most prolific domestic race winners, Nolan Hoffman (Tasol GT) and Arran Brown (MTN Qhubeka) into second and third respectively and in the process confirm his good form approaching two of the country’s most popular races, the Amashova and the Momentum 94.7 Cycle Challenge.
Sunday’s undulating out-and-back race between Potchefstroom and Ventersdorp had bunch sprint written all over it virtually from the start due to the wind direction. A tailwind on the way out and a headwind on the return made any kind of pack destroying moves unlikely, despite numerous enthusiastic breakaway attempts that never gained more than 40 seconds.
It was the fourth win in four weeks for Team Bonitas after victories at the Randfontein EPR Challenge (Tyler Day), Dome2Dome (Hanco Kachelhoffer) and Rand Water Race for Victory (Darren Lill).
Herman Fouche’s win at the Campus2Campus on Sunday confirms he’s approaching peak
form ahead of some of the country’s most prominent races.
Photo credit: Dominic Barnardt
“I actually felt pretty good from the start and I told my teammates that I felt confident I could win if they could help keep me in the mix. They did a great job, especially Hanco (Kachelhoffer) and (Johann) Rabie. They gave me the perfect lead out for the sprint today,” smiled Fouche.
“The Team Bonitas European campaign this year did a lot to cement the riders’ respect for and understanding of one another,” said Malcolm Lange of Lange Sports, the company that owns and manages Team Bonitas.
“The recent Team Bonitas wins have all been as a result of sensible team tactics and riders working towards a common goal. Johann Rabie and Hanco Kachelhoffer are proving to be valuable in reading the race in the latter stages and helped set up Herman’s win superbly today.”
At 1.78m tall and weighing 68kg, Fouche is decidedly slim for a sprinter but on Sunday it worked in his favour.
“There was a bit of a rise with a kilometre to go where I managed to get to the top with less effort than the other sprinters who are five or six kilos heavier than me. That left me fresher for the final push to the line.
“I’m definitely not afraid of big bunch sprints, but my focus is to be able to climb better than the other sprinters so that I can have more left in the tank at the end. And sometimes the climbs are hard enough for some of the bigger sprinters to get dropped, which obviously works in my favour,” said the 25-year-old from Pretoria.
The victory was an important confidence boost for Fouche who has won two other races this year, Stage 1 of the Tour de Free State and Stage 1 of the Volta as Terras de Santa Maria in Portugal.
“We are approaching two of my favourite South African races, the Amashova and the 94.7, both races I’ve won before. So this win shows my form is good and I’m really going to go all out to try and win those again. But even if I don’t win, a Team Bonitas win is always the priority, no matter which rider it is,” said Fouche.
In Sunday’s women’s race, the Toyota CSA Academy secured a podium clean sweep with Leandri du Toit claiming the victory ahead of teammates Lynette Burger and junior Andri Coetzee in second and third respectively.
2012 Campus2Campus
Leading results
Men:
1 Herman Fouche (Team Bonitas) 02hrs10min44sec
2 Nolan Hofmann (Tasol GT)
3 Arran Brown (MTN Qhubeka)
4 Hanco Kachelhoffer (Team Bonitas)
5 Christoff van Heerden (Northcliff Cycles) all same time
Women:
1 Leandri du Toit (Toyota CSA Academy)
2 Lynette Burger (Toyota CSA Academy)
3 Andri Coetzee (Toyota CSA Academy)
For full results, visit www.racetec.co.za
