PAARL: After three days of hard racing, fifteen seconds is all that separates the top four riders in the 2010 Pick n Pay Cape Argus Giro del Capo, with only the individual hill climb time trial remaining.
In a nail-biting finish in today’s third stage, pink jersey leader Burry Stander (Specialized) lost the stage by a whisker to Johannes Kachelhoffer (Medscheme), with Jacques Janse van Rensburg (DCM) crossing the finish line in third place.
The first successful breakaway developed shortly after the top of Franschhoek Pass, with Dylan Girdlestone (MTN Energade), Malcolm Lange (Medscheme), Michael Pepper (House of Paint), Jock Green (DCM) and David Garrett (Daikin GU) building their lead to a solid 4 minutes shortly after Villiersdorp.
The lead stretched to just over 5 minutes on the approach to Worcester, placing Garrett – perhaps hoping for a special birthday present – in the virtual leader’s jersey by some 2 minutes. At the Nekkies turn-off, the lead stretched to just over 6 minutes.
But, with the main peloton chasing hard, the time splits between the front two groups slowly dwindled to 2:36 at the old tunnel on Dutoitskloof Pass. Girdlestone and Garrett jumped, with Girdlestone clawing out a 17second lead, approaching the second Pickfords KOM of the day at the top of the Pass.
However, in the main peloton, Christoph Sauser (Specialized), teammate Stander, David George (Safindit.com) and Nic White (Medscheme) worked hard and managed to close the gap before the descent into Paarl.
“It was a good race,” Stander smiled after the finish.
The front bunch of 17 riders finished in 4:28, for an average of 38km/h over the 171km stage.
Tomorrow’s last stage, the 5.8km individual hill climb time trial, starts at 09h30 near the Camps Bay High School and finishes at the top of Signal Hill. Riders will start in reverse general classification order. While the road will be closed to all traffic, spectators are invited to watch the race at the hairpin bend (and KOM) at the top of Kloof Nek.
STAGE 3
1. Johannes Kachelhoffer MED 4:28,02
2. Burry Stander SPE 4:28,02
3. Jacques Janse van Rensburg DCM 4:28,02
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
1. Burry Stander SPE 10:20,25
2. Johannes Kachelhoffer MED +10”
3. David George SAF +14”
4. Kevin Evans MTN +15”
5. Tiaan Kannemeyer HOP +24”
6. Ian McLeod MTB –
7. Waylon Woolcock MED –
8. Nic White MED +31”
9. Rene Haselbacher SAF +41”
10. Jacques Janse van Rensburg DCM 3’57”
11. Thomas Zahnd CLS +4’01”
12. Shaun Ward CLS –
13. David Garrett DGU +4’03”
14. Christoph Sauser SPE +4’08”
15. Stefan Ihlenfeldt CTM +4’28”
16. Paul van Zweel SAD +4’50”
17. Dylan Girdlestone MTN +5’33”
18. Songezo Jim VEL +6’24”
19. Stefan Ganser KUO +7’09”
20. Richard Baxter HOP –