Hoffman earns his tour treble

‘The boys rode out of their skins, and I’m really pleased with how it played out’

NOLAN Hoffman was declared the winner of this year’s Cape Town Cycle Tour. The 32-year old won his third title in yesterday’s iconic cycling event.

“I feel extremely overwhelmed. I think this race causes so much nerves, and everything has to go perfect, especially for us. But everything went well, everything went the way we wanted it,” Hoffman said.

Hoffman is part of Team BCX, a professional road bike racing team comprising seven riders. Hoffman has become one of South Africa’s most prolific road and track race winners since the retirement in 2010 of former cycling legend Malcolm Lange, who was also the owner of Team BCX.

“The team was incredible, everything went perfectly. This is really a huge victory for us. Lady Luck was really with us,” he said.

The Franschhoek-born Hoffman won the men’s 109km race in 2:37:30, and said: “I had really good legs and I believe we held our nerve.”

He also out-sprinted Sam Gaze from Cambridge, who won the elite UCI Mountain Bike World Cup title on Saturday.

“For me I have achieved one of my goals in cycling in South Africa. This is just preparation for me for the Commonwealth Games at the beginning of next month.

“The Cape Town Cycle Tour is the biggest event in the country and loads of cyclists invest a lot in it. For everyone this is a big box ticked,” Hoffman said.

“This was our biggest objective for the year, and going away with the win was just incredible. The boys rode out of their skins, and I’m just really pleased with how it all played out,” he said.

Team BCX controlled the peloton through Camp’s Bay and the tricky twists and turns through Clifton and Sea Point, to go into the final sprint perfectly positioned.

The women’s race was won by Kim le Court, who is originally from Mauritius.

“Wow, such an emotional day,” Le Court said. “This is the one race that everyone wants to win. I’ve had a year of podiums, and it’s great to finally stand on the top step.”

Le Court won the race in 2:11:50. She beat Namibian Vera Adrian and South African track specialist Maroesjka Matthee in the 76km race, in perfect conditions at Glencairn just outside Simon’s Town.

Le Court added that it was good for women to have their own race as it was a “big positive” for team tactics.

‘THE TEAM WAS INCREDIBLE, EVERYTHING WENT WELL. THIS IS A HUGE VICTORY FOR US’