Nolan and Le Court claim 30th Tsogo Sun Amashova Durban Classic

[News bot]

On Sunday, 16th of October 2016, KwaZulu-Natal’s largest cycling event took place in Durban and with the sun out – the province really got to show off to its visitors. Cyclists from Poland, Australia, America, the UK, various parts of Africa and all over South Africa competed in the historic 30th Tsogo Sun Amashova Durban Classic Race. The “Road of Champions” from Pietermaritzburg to Durban was closed to ensure the safe passage of almost 10 000 riders riding in the 35km, 65km and challenging 106km routes, all finishing at the iconic Moses Mabhida Stadium.

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[nonky]

Vets Men 40-49 FASTER than Vets Men 30-39 ?

[Patchelicious]

There was a bit of an issue with the Juniors, it seems that there might have been a junior from Lights by Linea that finished in the front bunch with elites, but until this is officially sorted, I'm still claiming this

 

Keep an eye on this kid...

 

[JA-Q001]

Vets Men 40-49 FASTER than Vets Men 30-39 ?

Ja, we had a bit of a warmup ride up Foxhill.

 

I can write a small report here?

[Patchelicious]

Ja, we had a bit of a warmup ride up Foxhill.

 

I can write a small report here?

Please do!

[JA-Q001]

With the Amashova being one of 'the' classics to win, we always see a good number of competitive riders showing up, this year was no different with even a current 35-39 Grand Fondo World champ in the bunch. The normal danger people were there, Complete Cyclist, Northcliff, Token and quite a few other teams were represented, not forgetting all the local strong men. 

 

The VA field was smaller than other years, with a notable size difference to the VB bunch lining up on the opposite lane. The chatter on the line was nervous. A lot of the guys had toured down and was sharing their exploits of the previous few days cycling. 

 

As the start gun fired you could feel a calmness in the bunch, no surges and no attacks, it felt strange. The first attack came from Dana Coetzee, halfway up fox hill, with no one really interested n chasing, he kept a good lead up the climb, but as soon as the roads flattened out the pace picked up and he was reeled in. A few more attacks followed, but nothing really sticking, no one was willing to let anyone go, but no unnecessary energy was to be wasted with keeping the pace high. The next succesfull break thet got away was One solo Northcliff rider, Martin, that was shortly after joined by one TOKEN rider, Jacques Greeff. The finally snapped the elastic through Camperdown and build a good lead heading into Inchanga. With the hills looming the bunch became nervous and the pace picked up, a fierce pace was set on Inchanga, reeling in the two leaders on the downhill towards Bothas Hill. The pressure was kept on the front leaving only about 20 riders up front heading to Hllcrest. On the drag towards the M13 off ramp Jacques (TOKEN) opened a gap again and was Joined by Pieter Avenant riding in the colors of Clover. The pushed hard on the M13 opening a good gap, but the bunch was sniffing the finish already and decided that the pace has to rise again, catching the front two just after Fields Hill. Some of the riders shed on Bothas hill worked hard on the M13 and got  back too the front group at this stage, creating a sizable group as the bunch headed towards 45th cutting.  It is here that Martin Hillerman (Local) saw his chance and went of the front. The bunch was hesitant, leaving Martin hanging in front. As the bunch went through Tollgate another rider, Pierre Knoetze, joined Martin up front, making the bunch work extra hard to close the gap. Heading into the finish straight, the bunch was passing some elite riders, leaving the catch extremely late. With the smell of victory in their faces, Martin and Pierre was passed with 50m to go. If that wasnt exciting enough, the current World Champ took the line honors with a Photo Finish from Matthys Koekemoer (TOKEN), with Mike Hewan (Complete Cyclist) rounding out the podium. 

 

 

Well done to Deno Van Heerden (Bluff Meat Supply - Performance Bikefit), Matthys Koekemoer (TOKENwheelsSA) and Mike Hewan (Complete Cyclist) with their respective podiums and thank you to all the guys for making this another competitive and fun race.

 

 

Photos from www.cyclenation.co.za

Edited October 18, 2016 by JA-Q001

[JA-Q001]

I tried not being biased, but the two crossing the line both ride the new TOKEN C50 carbon clinchers. 

Edited October 18, 2016 by JA-Q001

[Alfa147GTA]

I enjoyed this write up more than any other regarding results of Shova. Well done bud.

[Patchelicious]

With the Amashova being one of 'the' classics to win, we always see a good number of competitive riders showing up, this year was no different with even a current 35-39 Grand Fondo World champ in the bunch. The normal danger people were there, Complete Cyclist, Northcliff, Token and quite a few other teams were represented, not forgetting all the local strong men. 

 

The VA field was smaller than other years, with a notable size difference to the VB bunch lining up on the opposite lane. The chatter on the line was nervous. A lot of the guys had toured down and was sharing their exploits of the previous few days cycling. 

 

As the start gun fired you could feel a calmness in the bunch, no surges and no attacks, it felt strange. The first attack came from Dana Coetzee, halfway up fox hill, with no one really interested n chasing, he kept a good lead up the climb, but as soon as the roads flattened out the pace picked up and he was reeled in. A few more attacks followed, but nothing really sticking, no one was willing to let anyone go, but no unnecessary energy was to be wasted with keeping the pace high. The next succesfull break thet got away was One solo Northcliff rider, Martin, that was shortly after joined by one TOKEN rider, Jacques Greeff. The finally snapped the elastic through Camperdown and build a good lead heading into Inchanga. With the hills looming the bunch became nervous and the pace picked up, a fierce pace was set on Inchanga, reeling in the two leaders on the downhill towards Bothas Hill. The pressure was kept on the front leaving only about 20 riders up front heading to Hllcrest. On the drag towards the M13 off ramp Jacques (TOKEN) opened a gap again and was Joined by Pieter Avenant riding in the colors of Clover. The pushed hard on the M13 opening a good gap, but the bunch was sniffing the finish already and decided that the pace has to rise again, catching the front two just after Fields Hill. Some of the riders shed on Bothas hill worked hard on the M13 and got  back too the front group at this stage, creating a sizable group as the bunch headed towards 45th cutting.  It is here that Martin Hillerman (Local) saw his chance and went of the front. The bunch was hesitant, leaving Martin hanging in front. As the bunch went through Tollgate another rider, Pierre Knoetze, joined Martin up front, making the bunch work extra hard to close the gap. Heading into the finish straight, the bunch was passing some elite riders, leaving the catch extremely late. With the smell of victory in their faces, Martin and Pierre was passed with 50m to go. If that wasnt exciting enough, the current World Champ took the line honors with a Photo Finish from Matthys Koekemoer (TOKEN), with Mike Ewan (Complete Cyclist) rounding out the podium. 

 

IMG_8109.JPG

 

Well done to Deno Van Heerden (Bluff Meat Supply - Performance Bikefit), Matthys Koekemoer (TOKENwheelsSA) and Mike Ewan (Complete Cyclist) with their respective podiums and thank you to all the guys for making this another competitive and fun race.

 

IMG_8288.jpg

 

Photos from www.cyclenation.co.za

Great write up and spot on!!

 

What caught me out was the slow pace leading up to the 50km mark.After chasing a few of the attacks it just all settled.... felt strange

 

Going into Inchanga, I was sitting talking *** to a mate towards the rear of the bunch, we had thought that because no break got away up Fox that the strong men had decided that the race will come down to a sprint.

 

Then all of a sudden the pace lifted and strung the group out up Inchanga, being caught near the back when it strings out is no good, it was then split doing down that decent. This gapped a few of us. We formed a group and worked a bit (Kudos to the dude in the roses kit, he worked!), but not too hard, we knew it was over as the rest of the race route was suited to the larger bunch.

 

Then as the leading VBs came past, 8 out of the 10 or so of our chase group hopped onto the back of them, myself and another rider didnt, as that is not on....

 

Anyway, we then decided to work together, the two of us rode really well to TT home. My best 60min effort came in the last hour of the race. We ended up only losing 6 mins or so to the winners. NP for 2h40 was 290W, if 0,97 for the race!! I was stuffed

 

Lesson learnt: Dont become relaxed in VA, EVER!!

Edited October 18, 2016 by Patchelicious

[Aurora]

There was a bit of an issue with the Juniors, it seems that there might have been a junior from Lights by Linea that finished in the front bunch with elites, but until this is officially sorted, I'm still claiming this

 

Keep an eye on this kid...

 

Totally agree with you... Keep an eye on this boy!

 

I have been watching him since I gave him his first road bike 5 years ago, such a talent!

[nonky]

With the Amashova being one of 'the' classics to win, we always see a good number of competitive riders showing up, this year was no different with even a current 35-39 Grand Fondo World champ in the bunch. The normal danger people were there, Complete Cyclist, Northcliff, Token and quite a few other teams were represented, not forgetting all the local strong men. 

 

The VA field was smaller than other years, with a notable size difference to the VB bunch lining up on the opposite lane. The chatter on the line was nervous. A lot of the guys had toured down and was sharing their exploits of the previous few days cycling. 

 

As the start gun fired you could feel a calmness in the bunch, no surges and no attacks, it felt strange. The first attack came from Dana Coetzee, halfway up fox hill, with no one really interested n chasing, he kept a good lead up the climb, but as soon as the roads flattened out the pace picked up and he was reeled in. A few more attacks followed, but nothing really sticking, no one was willing to let anyone go, but no unnecessary energy was to be wasted with keeping the pace high. The next succesfull break thet got away was One solo Northcliff rider, Martin, that was shortly after joined by one TOKEN rider, Jacques Greeff. The finally snapped the elastic through Camperdown and build a good lead heading into Inchanga. With the hills looming the bunch became nervous and the pace picked up, a fierce pace was set on Inchanga, reeling in the two leaders on the downhill towards Bothas Hill. The pressure was kept on the front leaving only about 20 riders up front heading to Hllcrest. On the drag towards the M13 off ramp Jacques (TOKEN) opened a gap again and was Joined by Pieter Avenant riding in the colors of Clover. The pushed hard on the M13 opening a good gap, but the bunch was sniffing the finish already and decided that the pace has to rise again, catching the front two just after Fields Hill. Some of the riders shed on Bothas hill worked hard on the M13 and got  back too the front group at this stage, creating a sizable group as the bunch headed towards 45th cutting.  It is here that Martin Hillerman (Local) saw his chance and went of the front. The bunch was hesitant, leaving Martin hanging in front. As the bunch went through Tollgate another rider, Pierre Knoetze, joined Martin up front, making the bunch work extra hard to close the gap. Heading into the finish straight, the bunch was passing some elite riders, leaving the catch extremely late. With the smell of victory in their faces, Martin and Pierre was passed with 50m to go. If that wasnt exciting enough, the current World Champ took the line honors with a Photo Finish from Matthys Koekemoer (TOKEN), with Mike Ewan (Complete Cyclist) rounding out the podium. 

 

IMG_8109.JPG

 

Well done to Deno Van Heerden (Bluff Meat Supply - Performance Bikefit), Matthys Koekemoer (TOKENwheelsSA) and Mike Ewan (Complete Cyclist) with their respective podiums and thank you to all the guys for making this another competitive and fun race.

 

IMG_8288.jpg

 

Photos from www.cyclenation.co.za

 

 

Awesome write-up, thanks!

 

BTW:  it's Mike Hewan.

[JA-Q001]

Great write up and spot on!!

 

What caught me out was the slow pace leading up to the 50km mark.After chasing a few of the attacks it just all settled.... felt strange

 

Going into Inchanga, I was sitting talking *** to a mate towards the rear of the bunch, we had thought that because no break got away up Fox that the strong men had decided that the race will come down to a sprint.

 

Then all of a sudden the pace lifted and strung the group out up Inchanga, being caught near the back when it strings out is no good, it was then split doing down that decent. This gapped a few of us. We formed a group and worked a bit (Kudos to the dude in the roses kit, he worked!), but not too hard, we knew it was over as the rest of the race route was suited to the larger bunch.

 

Then as the leading VBs came past, 8 out of the 10 or so of our chase group hopped onto the back of them, myself and another rider didnt, as that is not on....

 

Anyway, we then decided to work together, the two of us rode really well to TT home. My best 60min effort came in the last hour of the race. We ended up only losing 6 mins or so to the winners. NP for 2h40 was 290W, if 0,97 for the race!! I was stuffed

 

Lesson learnt: Dont become relaxed in VA, EVER!!

 

 

Good numbers. The same will be true for Satellite classic.

 

My numbers for the race:

 

77kg

NP - 324

Ave - 282

Hit above 1200 about 6 times

IF - 1.067

TSS - 257.2

[JA-Q001]

Awesome write-up, thanks!

 

BTW:  it's Mike Hewan.

Thanks, I know Mike so well and then I misspell his surname.

[Patchelicious]

Good numbers. The same will be true for Satellite classic.

 

My numbers for the race:

 

77kg

NP - 324

Ave - 282

Hit above 1200 about 6 times

IF - 1.067

TSS - 257.2

Big numbers!! 6 x 1200, chasing attacks or making attacks

 

Just on the IF, more than 1 shouldnt be possible, if thats the case, then you need to adjust you FTP setting.

 

Eg: I know that mine is slightly off, as my FTP is about 12W higher than it is currently set on TP.

[JA-Q001]

Big numbers!! 6 x 1200, chasing attacks or making attacks

 

Just on the IF, more than 1 shouldnt be possible, if thats the case, then you need to adjust you FTP setting.

 

Eg: I know that mine is slightly off, as my FTP is about 12W higher than it is currently set on TP.

Jaa, Im punching above my fitness sometimes. My FTP tests are always low, so I guestimate a correct FTP with racing numbers, currently set to 305 after Wilro. Seems the breaks in Amashova was harder than the ones n Wilro.

[Ryinc]

With the Amashova being one of 'the' classics to win, we always see a good number of competitive riders showing up, this year was no different with even a ...

...

Photos from www.cyclenation.co.za

 This was a great write-up, please do them as a regular contribution to the hub!