FLAME THROWER Hoffman is not finished just yet
Wesley Bo
Pon
umped after retaining his Amashova crown, sprinter Nolan Hoffman is eager to chase another spot in the record books in Joburg next month. Hoffman won the Tsogo Sun Amashova Durban Classic on Sunday, equalling Malcolm Lange’s record of six victories at the annual road race.
The 32-year-old Team BCX rider was full of praise for his teammates after they pulled back multiple attacks on the challenging 106km route and kept the peloton together to set Hoffman up in the dash for the line.
“The whole team did their part and everybody played their role to perfection,” Hoffman said yesterday.
He was now targeting an elusive win at the Telkom 947 Cycle Challenge on November 19, in an attempt to become the fifth man to secure a career treble of domestic classics.
Should he achieve the feat, the two-time Cape Town Cycle Tour champion will join esteemed company, with only Lange, Robbie Hunter, Herman Fouche and Arran Brown having won the men’s races at the Amashova, Cycle Challenge and Cycle Tour events.
While he had relied on his team-mates and his ferocious speed for his other big wins, Hoffman faced a different challenge at the high-altitude Cycle Challenge, which gave the climbers and workhorses an edge.
Last year he finished sixth, and while he was more than a minute off the pace of winner Brendon Davids, he crossed the line on the wheel of former champion Willie Smit.
Hoffman felt he was in better condition this season, and after losing some weight in preparation for the race, he was confident of putting up a fight.
“That’s still the monkey on my back, but it motivates me to try and do something there,” he said.
“I’m going to keep on trying because anything can happen in racing.”