South Africa’s best cyclists assemble for Jock tour
Germiston Wheelers' members take on the Bestmed Jock Cycle Classique Tour.
South Africa’s top professional road cycling teams will face one of their toughest tests yet, in the newly launched Bestmed Jock Cycle Classique Tour, which starts at the Mbombela Stadium, in Nelspruit, this Friday.
Germiston Wheelers’ Thomas Truscott and Dinos Kastanos are among the cyclists taking on the Bestmed Jock Tour.
Participants in the three-day tour of Mpumalanga, which is presented by ASG, will cover 299km and ascend over 7 200m as they vie for their share of the cash prize.
The tour culminates in the iconic Jock Cycle Classique route, which is widely accepted as South Africa’s toughest single-day cycling challenge.
According to tour director Hendrik Wagener, the event is a challenging and undulating one that offers very little interval between the big mountain passes.
“Overall, this is a tough tour and definitely not one for the sprinters,” he said.
“At no point can you sit and relax.
“We also have our Nelspruit locals, Nico Bell and Gawie Combrinck, who regularly train on these routes and have been doing well on the national mountain biking circuit this year.”
The Jock Tour starts off with a 27km individual time-trial from Nelspruit to Kaapsehoop.
At 140km, the second stage, from Nelspruit to White River and back, could be considered the queen stage.
Riders face two massive climbs in the form of the 7km Spitskop ascent and the 10km Long Tom Pass, which has a gradient of up to seven per cent in places.
The 132km third stage is possibly the highlight of the tour, as participants take on the traditional Jock Classique quickly through Kaapmuiden and Barberton before returning to Nelspruit.
The Boulders ascent, just before Kaapmuiden, which has an average gradient of nine per cent, has been the undoing of many a cyclist, while Hilltop will give the climbers one last chance to get away before the finish.
For more information, visit www.thejock.co.za.
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