Knysna title joy for KZN team
This was the KZN-based team's third consecutive victory at the event following Hoffman's win in 2013 and David Maree in 2014.
Hoffman won the 110km race in a time of 2 hours 43 minutes 57 seconds and ended a bike-length ahead of teammate Reynard Butler and Stefan Ihlenfeldt (Lights by Linea).
The race got off to a blistering start with attacks from the get go. Around 15km into the race Hoffman went on the attack taking with him Ryan Gibbons (EuropecarSA), Hanco Kachelloffer (Autopage) and Raymond Cox (CWC). The quartet built up a lead of 1 minute 30seconds before being reeled in by a charging peloton on the grueling ascents halfway into the race.
At the 65km mark HB Kruger (Team Abantu) won the King of the Mountain and caused a major split in the peloton which saw a select group of around 20 riders going clear with some 40km left to race. Hoffman battled over the undulating climbs with the support of Butler who kept his captain in contention, while Kruger marked every attack from the numerically strong EuropecarSA team.
On the final climb 10km from the finish Kruger went clear with Willie Smit (EuropcarSA) and the two built up a significant gap of 10 seconds as the race plummeted down into Knysna. With Hoffman tucked safely in the chasing peloton and flanked by his young protégé Butler, he waited in the wings as the race came down to the final 400m.
A big effort from MTN-Qhubeka Feeder, Autopage, and then Lights by Linea saw Kruger and Smit being caught with some 250m to go as Hoffman lit up the after-burners with Butler locked onto his wheel to claim yet another emphatic victory for The People’s Team.
Nolan Hoffman comments: “It was a hard day over the rolling climbs. I managed to get the 4-man break away which allowed us to get a small head start on the first major climb. When the decisive split caught us I knew I had to dig deep to stay up front. From there I kept yo-yo-ing from the front but Reynard (Butler) was brilliant and just stayed with me the entire second part of the race helping me get back. As a sprinter, when you enter the final 15km in the front, something switches on in your head and your instinct kicks in. With HB just off the front in the final 1km it took the pressure off me...but, as we caught him, I just chose the perfect line through the final 90-degree corner and I just put my head down and went for it. It was a really impressive ride by Rey today who did an incredible workload during the race and still finished second - a great result for the team."
(Photo by Marlon Jacobs/Racetec)
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