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Brown wins a drag race on Tarlton in the EPR
The EPR Cycle Challenge that started from Tarlton International Raceway in the West Rand, seemed destined to be a drag race between the best riders after the warm-up 120km loop. Arran Brown of Medscheme beat his rival Reinhardt Janse van Rensburg in the resulting sprint between the front riders!
The race started lethargically, and a group of three went clear, solidifying into a two man break that gained up to five minutes on the bunch. Pieter Seyffert (DCM) and Tiaan Visser (Olympic) were the brave souls making a go of it up front. The bunch knew what was coming however, and after about 60km, in some strong crosswinds a split occurred and a large group sped away from the remainder of the bunch.
The two leaders were soon caught and the chase was on from the bunch, with Toyota Supercycling academy, Ghost BBT bikes and other individuals trying to get things organized. It was a little too erratic, the chase, and the bunch could only get to within 25 sec of the large break that was happily rolling along.
A change of direction gave some riders in the bunch the chance to upset the chase, and Medscheme broke the back of the bunch, taking a few others along in an attempt to get across to the leaders. With numbers of different team riders up front relatively equal, there was no real reason for Medscheme to get across, but for the sport of it they tried. This put pressure on the front, and MTN, EMG and other individuals put their backs into the pace, and the break was never seen again.
A few riders were ejected in the resulting gutter as MTN tried to split the front, but a large group of 11 riders made it into the final 10kms together. The only notable attack came from James Perry in the final 3 kms, but he was controlled by Medscheme. MTN were happy to take their chances with the drag race up Tarlton's straight, and so were Medscheme. (Tarlton is a drag raceway!)
Van Rensburg had the last win over Brown at their encounter at the Carousel Classic, so his team started the leadout, but Medscheme's lieutenants, Kachelhoffer and MacDonald gave the final pull, giving Brown the chance to get this one over his rival. Kachelhoffer hung in for third from Reynard Butler of EMG.
"It was a relatively simple race, with the large group going away and working together to stay clear of the bunch. Despite a few efforts to split the group in the gutter, Perry was the only one to try go away in the finale. The rest were happy to try in the sprint, which suited me today, as my team mates did a great effort to guide me to the line. I am pleased to have managed to go up on Reinhardt this week after he beat me in the last race!" said Brown of his race.
"There may be some criticism from certain sides that SA races need to be longer or harder, but let me tell you that it is still no walk in the park to be at the front of such a race as this one. I have had four weeks on my bike on the road and realize that you definitely have to strong and fit to be in the front, being clever helps a lot as well, but form is the key! This may not be the most scenic ride, but the timing of this event is good for the upcoming spring races!" - Nic White
Results: 120km
1st Arran Brown (Team Medscheme) 2:59:52
2nd Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (MTN Energade)
3rd Hanco Kachelhoffer (Team Medscheme)
4th Reynard Butler (EMG Cycling)
5th Pieter Seyffert (DCM)
6th Anton Davis (Asics)
7th Nico Bell (TCS)
8th Bradley Potgieter (MTN Energade)
9th Dylan Girdlestone (MTN Energade)
10th Neil MacDonald (Team Medscheme)
