Evans, Schoeman win Makro race

KEVIN Evans and Anriette Schoeman took the honours in the 90km Makro Bestmed Cycle Tour at the weekend.

Evans managed to hold off the chasing group in the last 10km on the Chelsea climb to win in a time of two hours, 10 minutes and 50 seconds. Denzil Africa finished second in 2:11:31 and Kellan Gouveris was third in 2:12:00.

Schoeman, 10th overall, led the women’s field in a time of 2:12:25, with Allison Hertel second in 2:17:46 and Janie van Rensburg third in 2:26:00.

The first 30km stretch of the race was flat and although many riders tried to break away, the attacks were quickly chased down.

Evans (360 Life) was under a lot of pressure as every move he made was countered by the Mecer NMMU and Wayne Pheiffer Cycles teams.

With 70km to go, Evans made his move on the Rocklands climb, but was chased down.

With all the focus on Evans, Denzil Africa and Luthando Fatyi (Continental) managed to sneak away before the Surrey Hills climb.

At this stage, the top two women, Schoeman (Mecer Africa Silks) and Hertel (NMMU), managed to stay in the main chasing bunch. Van Rensburg, however, was left behind on the Surrey Hills Climb.

Denzil Afrika (Novo Nordisk) was the first rider to reach the notorious Maitlands climb and was in full flight.

He powered ahead to take the King of the Mountain, leaving Fatyi behind.

Evans made his move up Maitlands, shattering the bunch. Schoeman managed to stay with the front chasing group as Hertel lost contact.

A fast chase followed down Maitlands and Evans managed to catch Afrika.

He counter-attacked on the sneaky Seaview drag, leaving all opposition behind.