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South African cycling losses.


eddy

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We forget them so soon and the next generation will not know what we have lost.

 

The latest L'Equipe magazine, focussing on the Tour, had a photo essay on significant crashes over the years.

 

 

 

This is what my limited translation of the caption says :

 

"At 21 years old, the young South African climber John-lee Augestyn summitted the 2802m cime de la bonette in the lead before crashing and plummeting 30m down the ravine on the descent. With the aide of a spectator he climbed back up to the road and finished 34th in the stage, well ahead of his team mate Chris Froome who finished anonymously in the pack, more than 30 minutes behind."

 

It then goes on to talk about his broken hip from an earlier crash and his premature retirement from cycling in 2014 at the age of 27.

 

I was following the tour in 2008 and recall the pride and expectation of having a young Saffer at the top of the sport. Just like Louis Meintjies, it seemed we had a contender.

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Edited by eddy
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That was legendary...it just went straight ahead and off the edge. That upside-down splayed Spider-Man style crab crawl down the mountain looked hilarious!

 

At least he went over the top first.  :thumbup:

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What about Ryan Cox..... he was phenominal and a super nice guy, and then the two upcoming guys, also from Barloworld that died in the small plane crash, Jaco Odendal, I believe his Kowyns pass record still stands today.....

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What about Ryan Cox..... he was phenominal and a super nice guy, and then the two upcoming guys, also from Barloworld that died in the small plane crash, Jaco Odendal, I believe his Kowyns pass record still stands today.....

 And his best mate, Jaco De Witt (my wife's nephew) They were in Jaco's Dad's plane, returning to Harrismith for the weekend.

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Reinhardt Du Plessis....rode for Microsoft when I worked for them...super nice guy and a super strong domestique for Malcolm Lange....

 

Died in a car crash going to get burgers for dinner :(

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 And his best mate, Jaco De Witt (my wife's nephew) They were in Jaco's Dad's plane, returning to Harrismith for the weekend.

Ii will never forget that weekend, I was working for Microsoft Cycling Team and we were leaving for a training camp in Clarens on the Friday and when we met up on Friday morning we were informed that Jaco Odendaal had gone on this trip with Jaco De Wit and was supposed to have returned on Thursday night but the plane had never arrived at Harrismith. On the training camp, all of us were shell shocked and hoping for the best....

 

They found the wreckage a couple of days later about 100km from Clarens

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Burry

It was him I was thinking of when I started this thread.

 

Just watching the UCI XCO world champs without him in the mix for a win struck a raw nerve.

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For the life of me now I cant remember his name but there was one of our local pro's that committed suicide a few years ago(probably like 10 years?). If i'm not mistaken he was from the east rand and road for the finish line cycles junior team before going pro. I remember chatting to Clint at FLC the day after it happened and he said he had woman issues. 

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For the life of me now I cant remember his name but there was one of our local pro's that committed suicide a few years ago(probably like 10 years?). If i'm not mistaken he was from the east rand and road for the finish line cycles junior team before going pro. I remember chatting to Clint at FLC the day after it happened and he said he had woman issues. 

Juan van Heerden

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It was him I was thinking of when I started this thread.

 

Just watching the UCI XCO world champs without him in the mix for a win struck a raw nerve.

 

Saw a link to this on his mum's Facebook page: 

 

http://www.ehowzit.co.za/out-and-about/events/le-tour-de-burry-comes-to-south-coast/

 

Still remember the day they dedicated a memorial garden to him at Cascades during World Champs. Not a dry eye around. 

Edited by Tumbleweed
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