Schoeman and Gouveris excel in NMB Cycle Tour
ANRIETTE Schoeman and Brad Gouveris proved they are ready for the upcoming The Herald Continental Cycle Tour after dominating the NMB District Cycle Tour on Sunday.
Schoeman is the holder of a record 16 Continental Cycle Tour wins.
She finished second last year behind SA champion Anli Kachelhoffer.
The Nelson Mandela Bay District Cycle Tour started at Grass Roof in perfect weather conditions.
The women started the 74km race with the men.
It was clear from the start that the race would be tough, with Lake Farm climb, Cows Corner climb, Maitlands climb and the notorious 5km Seaview climb on the menu.
Huge pressure from Gouveris and Latando Meintjie with an early break caused many riders to drop from the chasing bunch on the steep Lake Farm climb.
Schoeman (Africa Silks/ Bestmed) and Kelsey van Schoor (Bestmed) were the only women to go over the summit with the men.
This climb was followed within 6km with the Cows Corner climb.
This proved too much for most riders and the bunch broke up into smaller groups.
The chasing bunch consisted of 15 riders, chasing Gouveris and Meintjies.
At St Albans, the chasing group slowly started to close in the 1.45-minute time gap, which was closed on the Fairview climb midway through the race.
Attacks on the Maitlands climb left more riders behind as the riders tried to conserve as much energy as possible for the 5km Seaview climb.
Gouveris, Nick Cape and Steven Venter managed to break away midway through the climb followed by Schoeman, leaving Kelsey van Schoor behind to take the QOM on the summit of the climb.
The KOM title was shared by Gouveris and Venter as they crossed the line together.
Gouveris attacked again 6km later at Lake Farm which left Venter behind.
In the final sprint, Gouveris beat Cape to take first place, with Venter taking third place.
Schoeman lifted the women’s title when she won the bunch sprint to take fourth overall place.
Lauren Coleman finished second in the women’s category.
Results: Men: 1st: Brad Gouveris – 2:02:08 2nd: Nick Cape (Walmer CC– 2:02:08 3rd: Steven Venter – 2:02:56 Women: 1st: Anriette Schoeman – 2:04:27 2nd: Lauren Coleman (Power Bar) – 2:13:42 3rd: Ashleigh Mayhead (Bestmed Africa Silks) – 2:31:38