Naude leads Biogen Toyota clean-sweep
Lizanne Naude of Team Biogen Toyota secured the overall women’s title at the Midvaal Vets and Ladies Tour after a dominant display that saw her winning two of the four stages.
Naude won the opening prologue individual time trial over 8km in a time of 11min 03sec. Ronel van Straaten (11:25) and Naude’s Biogen Toyota teammate, Anriette Schoeman (11:27) were second and third respectively.
With the Yellow Jersey firmly in place by a healthy 22-second margin, it was expected that Naude would use her strong Biogen Toyota team to defend the jersey and let the other riders make the racing. But at 50km into the 66km first road stage, Naude attacked and managed to hold off the chasing bunch to capture the stage win in 1:48:06. Schoeman finished second and Charlotte van der Merwe third.
The third stage, the longest of the tour, was a 126km haul over relatively flat terrain. But the August winds had arrived on cue and for a challenge stage.
Biogen Toyota riders were again the aggressors, with Joanna van der Winkel launching the first attack 12km into the race to take the QOM prize at 16km. Schoeman then secured the hotspot at 47km and then broke away alone at 64km. Her attack into the stiff headwind split up the lead bunch, which included the 50-plus veteran men. Schoeman was caught at 83km and the stage podium was an all Biogen-Toyota affair with Van der Winkel winning the sprint ahead of Schoeman and Naude.
The final stage was a one-hour plus one-lap criterium on the Midvaal Raceway. The bunch remained intact throughout with Van der Winkel surging clear on the last lap to grab her second stage win ahead of Schoeman and Van der Merwe.
Midvaal Vets and Ladies Tour
Leading final women’s results:
1 Lizanne Naude (Biogen Toyota)
2 Anriette Schoeman (Biogen Toyota)
3 Joanna van der Winkel (Biogen Toyota)
4 Charoltte van der Merwe
5 Arien Tortius.
Queen of the Mountain winner: Anriette Schoeman br>
Points winner: Anriette Schoeman