The Under 14 and under 16 groups rode a 58km circuit with some real hills to test the youngsters.
At the start of the race it was Damian Vaughan of the Yorkshire Cycling Academy that attacked early in the race. The riders faced Ou Kaapse Weg after about 4km into the race. It was on this climb a split in the under 16 bunch came. At the front was Damian Vaughan – still enjoying a gap on the rest – and then J.C Jantjies (Mr price), Stefan De Bod (Aca Joe), Graeme Ockhuis, Ivan Venter and Nicol Carstens (All Yorkshire) chased.
Vaughan was reeled in and with about 1km to the top of the climb Ockhuis dropped and Venter also lost contact from the rest. Venter caught the group again on the descent and the front group was now Venter, Jantjies, De Bod and Carstens. These four pushed on and worked together.
With about 10km to the finish the riders again faced Ou Kaapse Weg, a 5km climb. Ivan Venter’s chain dropped off on the climb and he lost valuable ground on the front group. After assistance by his team vehicle he was on his bike but had to chase hard to catch the front group. With some great riding and guts Venter joined the three leaders just before the summit of the climb.
With about 2km to go Nicol Carstens of Yorkshire had a hard fall but he was able to get up and continue. De Bod (Aca Joe) was struggling a bit and lost some ground on the leaders. In the battle to the finish it was Venter that showed some great strength and determination to outsprint Jantjies.
Jantjies finished second and Carstens 3rd. De Bod came in fourth and Graeme Ockhuis of the Academy 5th. Venter retains the pink leader’s jersey.
In the Under 14 category Yorkshire Academy’s Keanu Slinger showed some great speed to take the sprint 15 meters in front of the rest. Slinger will pink leader’s jersey in the Under 14 category in the next race.
The next race will be the Medallion Tour de Stellenbosch on Sunday 19 February 2012. The Academy prides itself on a sound and sustainable structure. It is always an objective of the Academy to follow a “hands on” approach towards the development of these youngsters.
