South African Pro Cycling

Team MTN-Qhubeka’s Reinardt Janse van Rensburg has secured another impressive international finish, coming in second place in the General Classification (GC) for the Tour of Hainan in China that ended on 28 October 2011. He also finished in fourth place in the Green Jersey rankings.

PHOTOS © Sonoko TANAKA

Janse van Rensburg, along with teammates Stanley Namanyane, Bradley Potgieter, Martin Wesemann, JC Nel, James Tennant and Dennis van Niekerk, took part in the nine-stage 2.HC race over 1 430km, riding against experienced international teams like Astana and Skil-Shimano, and proved once again that South African pro riders are up there with the best in the world.

According to Gary Blem, who managed the MTN-Qhubeka team at the recent Jayco Herald Sun Tour in Australia, as well as the Tour of Hainan, it was one of the most difficult tours he’s seen in his experienced career.

Nevertheless, despite punctures, a nasty crash that saw Janse van Rensburg concussed and an extremely fit, competitive field, the MTN-Qhubeka team brought home great results.

“Reinardt was set up for a good finish right from the first day, where he was already in the GC. He moved up from there, although the third last day of the tour was a bad one. He crashed out and actually picked up a concussion, but he still managed to catch the peloton and finish within it on that stage,” says Blem. “The next day, he did well in the intermediate sprints and was up in sixth place again in GC.”

The tour was won by Valentin Iglinskiy (Kazakhstan, Team Astana) with Janse van Rensburg just 14 seconds off the pace. Third place man Alexander Schmitt (Germany Team Eddy Merckx-Indeland) was a further five seconds behind.

Blem notes that the team worked hard to protect Janse van Rensburg’s position, particularly on the second last day of racing. “We knew that the yellow jersey rider was faltering, so we discussed before the race that we’d keep the race together and focus on the intermediate sprints to help Reinie go up in GC,” he explains. “MTN-Qhubeka shut down a break of three dangerous guys before the first climb, and as they hit the climb, Dennis (van Niekerk) pulled hard at the front and blew the yellow jersey out of the peloton, splitting the bunch in two. The yellow jersey crashed on the descent and fell back into the second bunch.”

Although Team Astana controlled the remainder of the race, Janse van Rensburg picked up valuable points, coming second in the first intermediate sprint, winning the second, and coming third on the final sprint.

“For me, the most important thing is that the South African guys take advantage of the overseas opportunities they get,” says Blem. “It’s a case of convincing them they’re good enough to be competitive and building their confidence and the belief that they can do well.”

He adds that some of the young riders on the team are still inexperienced and found the tour difficult, but that the team managed to work very well together, covering all the moves. “We were present in almost every breakaway,” he says. “Bradley (Potgieter) was in three separate breaks, which really took the pressure off the team. And Reinie has proved he’s a top-class rider. In fact, there were a couple of directors of the international teams that are interested in him. MTN-Qhubeka has proven that they can ride at this level.”

Blem believes that the team’s confidence was high following their impressive performance in the Jayco Herald Sun Tour, and they believed they could do well in Hainan. Despite one or two difficult days, they pulled through, and everyone played a role.

“It’s tough to split the peloton in this tour,” says Blem. “The climbs aren’t really hard enough to break it up, so we knew it would come down to the intermediate sprints. The team worked well to set Reinardt up for those. It’s been a great season for the MTN-Qhubeka team and I think they have a bright future.

“South African riders need to change their mindset and start coming to international events ready to try to win, not to sit in the peloton. MTN-Qhubeka has proved it can be done.”

Stages:

Stage 1 results:

1 Justin Jules (Fra) Velo-Club La Pomme Marseille 4:12:46
2 Valentin Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana
3 Adam Phelan (Aus) Drapac
4 Kamil Zielinski (Pol) CCC Polsat Polkowice
5 Mori Kazuhiro (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team
6 Adiq Othman (Mas) Drapac
7 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) MTN Qhubeka
8 Christian Poos (Lux) Team Differdange-Magic-Sportfood.de
9 Wang Meiyin (Chn) China National Team
10 David Gutierrez (Spa) Geox-TMC

Stage 2 results:

1 Nakajima Yasuharu (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team 3:43:39
2 Kenny Van Hummel (Ned) Skil-Shimano 0:00:59
3 Justin Jules (Fra) Velo-Club La Pomme Marseille
4 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) MTN Qhubeka
5 Danielle Colli (Ita) Geox-TMC
6 Stuart Shaw (Aus) Drapac
7 Peter Erdin (Swi) Atlas Personal-Jakroo
8 Valentin Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana
9 Xavier Florencio (Spa) Geox-TMC
10 Gediminas Kaupas (Ltu) Team Differdange-Magic-Sportfood.de

Stage 3 results:

1 Tom Veelers (Ned) Skil - Shimano 3:53:30
2 Kenny Van Hummel (Ned) Skil - Shimano
3 Mohd Harrif Salleh (Mas) Terengganu Cycling Team
4 Valentin Iglinskiy (Kaz) Pro Team Astana
5 Anuar Manan (Mas) Terengganu Cycling Team
6 Mart Ojavee (Est) Champion System
7 Martijn Verschoor (Ned) Team Type 1 - Sanofi
8 Danielle Colli (Ita) Geox-TMC
9 Rico Rogers (NZl) Giant Kenda Cycling Team
10 Kazuhiro Mori (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team

Stage 5 results:
1 Anuar Manan (Mas) Terengganu Cycling Team 3:21:25
2 Mohd Harrif Salleh (Mas) Terengganu Cycling Team
3 Rico Rogers (NZl) Giant Kenda Cycling Team
4 Danielle Colli (Ita) Geox-TMC
5 Kenny Van Hummel (Ned) Skil-Shimano
6 Tom Veelers (Ned) Skil-Shimano
7 Peter Erdin (Swi) Atlas Personal-Jakroo
8 Adiq Othman (Mas) Drapac
9 Sylwester Janiszewski (Pol) CCC Polsat Polkowice
10 Marko Kump (Slo) Geox-TMC

Stage 6 results:
1 Kenny Van Hummel (Ned) Skil-Shimano 3:54:22
2 Mohd Harrif Salleh (Mas) Terengganu Cycling Team
3 Peter Erdin (Swi) Atlas Personal-Jakroo
4 Rico Rogers (NZl) Giant Kenda Cycling Team
5 Verschoor Maarten (Ned) Team Type 1-Sanofi Aventis
6 Marko Kump (Slo) Geox-TMC
7 Mori Kazuhiro (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team
8 Chen Zhian (Chn) Chinese 361°Cycling Team
9 Stuart Shaw (Aus) Drapac
10 Christian Poos (Lux) Team Differdange-Magic-Sportfood.de

Stage 7 results:

1 Kenny Van Hummel (Ned) Skil-Shimano 4:36:52
2 Chan Jae Jang (Kor) Terengganu Cycling Team
3 Danielle Colli (Ita) Geox-TMC
4 Justin Jules (Fra) Velo-Club La Pomme Marseille
5 Valentin Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana
6 Mori Kazuhiro (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team
7 Anuar Manan (Mas) Terengganu Cycling Team
8 Kamil Zielinski (Pol) CCC Polsat Polkowice
9 Mohd Harrif Salleh (Mas) Terengganu Cycling Team
10 Ayabe Takeaki (Jpn) Aisan Racing Team

Stage 8 results:

1 Valentin Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana 4:27:45
2 Danielle Colli (Ita) Geox-TMC
3 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) MTN Qhubeka
4 Adam Phelan (Aus) Drapac
5 Sylwester Janiszewski (Pol) CCC Polsat Polkowice
6 Adiq Othman (Mas) Drapac
7 Wang Meiyin (Chn) China National Team
8 Kamil Zielinski (Pol) CCC Polsat Polkowice
9 Chan Jae Jang (Kor) Terengganu Cycling Team
10 Stefan Ganser (Ger) Team Eddy Merckx-Indeland

Stage 9 results:

1 Kenny Van Hummel (Ned) Skil-Shimano 2:01:31
2 Rico Rogers (NZl) Giant Kenda Cycling Team
3 Justin Jules (Fra) Velo-Club La Pomme Marseille
4 Tom Veelers (Ned) Skil-Shimano
5 Sylwester Janiszewski (Pol) CCC Polsat Polkowice
6 Danielle Colli (Ita) Geox-TMC
7 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) MTN Qhubeka
8 Valentin Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana
9 Verschoor Maarten (Ned) Team Type 1-Sanofi Aventis
10 Kamil Zielinski (Pol) CCC Polsat Polkowice

Tour of Hainan images © Sonoko TANAKA