Sharks Academy Scholarship Winner
The competition ran from February to October 2012 and hundreds of applicants entered online via our website. Only applicants who had been accepted into the Sharks Academy on merit could enter. The sponsored prize from Muscle Science would cover the cost of the R10 000 tuition fee.
Congratulations to Dylan Rhodes! Winner of our Sharks Academy Bursary Competition!
Maree punches above his weight
David Maree (Tasol-GT) yet again showed he is one of the most versatile riders on the SA road scenen at the weekends Engen Dynamic Series in Durban. Maree just 60kgs finished 3rd in yet anmother field sprint of around 30 riders against some of the countries top local sprinters.
PRE-race favourite and defending title-holder, Arran Brown (MTN-Qhubeka), chalked up his 10th victory of the year with a well-judged finishing sprint that saw him cross the line just ahead of Tyler Day (Bonitas) and Maree (Tasol-GT) in yesterday’s third and last leg of the 2012 Engen Dynamic Cycle Challenge Series.
The result was identical to last week’s finishing order in the OFM Cycle Challenge in Bloemfontein and Brown said he was hoping his luck would hold out until next week’s end of season classic, the Momentum 94.7 in Johannesburg which he won last year and also in 2009.
An elated Brown said after the race: “This is a fantastic race, so well organised by Engen and by limiting teams to six riders each making it possible for the smaller professional teams to be competitive.
“This is definitely the way to go. What Engen are doing for elite cycling is not only revolutionary but also exciting.”
Brown has good reason to enjoy coming to Durban, he has won the Engen twice now, last year and this, and also the Amashova twice, in 2009 and 2010.
Maree said his Tasol-GT team were again without their main sprinter, Nolan Hoffman who is campaigning abroad, and this was proving to be a considerable handicap for the team however he was content with yet another podium finish being up agianst big 75+kgs sprinter.
Tasol-GT Update
Great news for the team at TASOL-GT whose newest junior cyclist Kellan Gouveris finished 7th in the 25km Points Race at the Junior World Track Champs in New Zealand over the weekend.
Well done Kellan, well done Tasol-GT.
For the full race report, click here
Race Report - EPR Classic
Nolan Hoffman moves up a step on the podium! Check out the full EPR Classic Race Report here
Maree wins KOM competition and finished 3rd on GC
David Maree secured Tasol GT a podium finish at the Le Coq Sportif Cycle Tour outside Rustenburg this week as the 5 stage race came to a end yesterday after the final 78km stage. The team was again in the thick of the action on the stage as Richard Baxter narrowly missed out on a chance to secure a major win for himself when he was beaten on the line by MTN Qhubeka’s Calvin Beneke.
Johann Rabie (Bonitas) claimed overall honors with MTN Qhubeka’s Jacques janse van Rensburg edging out Maree by a mere 7 seconds after the 5 days of racing.
The final stage was controlled mostly by Rabie’s Bonitas teammates when 3 riders broke away early in the stage as none of Richard Baxter, Clint Hendricks (both Tasol GT) and Calvin Beneke (MTN Qhubeka) posed a serious threat to the yellow jersey.
Hendricks had an unfortunate puncture and his team car was stuck behind the main bunch and couldn’t get back to the break away. Calvin Beneke, son of former Rapport tour winner Gary Beneke, then outsprinted Baxter to take the final stage for Team MTN Qhubeka.
Maree who is fast becoming the rider he once was in the junior ranks also claimed the KOM Mountains competition and finished 2nd in the Points Competiton. The team will walk away from the tour with some much needed confidance ahead of it US campaign where the deprt on the 4th July for 3 week and 17 races.
The Tour was considered a great success and much needed event on South Africa’s professional road racing circuit and will hopefully grow into the premier cycling tour in SA.
For full results, visit tasolgt.co.za
Solid team performance at PPC Kremetart to secure a win for Maree
David Maree bounced back after a dissapointing Tour de Freestate two weeks ago to win the overall competiton and two stages at the 2012 edition of the PPC Kremetart Classic. The 175km event, split up into 4 stages saw top SA teams Europecar SA, Tasol-GT and Team Bonitas match up in a ding dong battle over 4 short, fast and hard stages.
Stage 1 – 53km
The most challenging part of the stage included a 8km climb which saw 4 riders escape. Maree along with teammate James Perry rode away with Hanco Kachelloffer and Jason Bakke of Team Bonitas. Willie Smith (Toyota CSA) managed to bridge the gap and make the 5-man decisive winning break. Kachelloffer opened up the sprint but it was Maree who took top honours with Willie Smith coming in 2nd and Kacheloffer 3rd.
Stage 2 – 48km
A relatively flat stage saw Tasol GT commit to team sprinter Nolan Hoffman at the same time as defending the overall lead of Maree. The team of Richard Baxter, William Bush, Myles van Musschenbroek along with Perry and Maree controlled the race perfectly for the star sprinter. With 5km remaining the lead bunch started to splinter in the strong gutter winds and the relentless attacks from Team Bonitas. But in the end it was Hoffman who bagged the teams 2nd win after the sterling job done by his team with Bonitas Johan Rabie in 2nd and Maree close to the action defending his overall lead by finishing 3rd.
Stage 3 – 52km
Tasol GT riders knew that stage 3 would be the decisive stage and as soon as the race got started the teams domestique s were sent straight to the front to control the race. Team Bonitas knew they had to try break up the team to make Maree lose time to Kachelhoffer but 40km into the stage they had yet to penetrate a much stronger looking outfit than two weeks prior at the Tour de Freestate. With just over 10km to go a sizable group went clear containing most of the strong riders. The finish of stage 3 was up a steep 1km climb. Maree had pointed out the day before that this was the stage he wanted to win because the sprint suited him perfectly. With 1km to go it was the ever working Perry setting it up for Maree. With 400m to go Smith (Toyota) opened up the sprint but it was Maree who powered away to win comfortably over Willie Smit and Kachelhoffer in 3rd.
Stage 4 – 22km
The 4th and final stage was a short 22km stage that featured one major obstacle, a 4km climb just before the finish. With just over 1km from the top Team Bonitas went on the attack with Johan Rabie and Jason Bakke. Richard Baxter took up the work of closing the gap a bit for Maree who with 500m from the top attacked across the gap to the two Bonitas riders with Hanco Kachelhoffer on his wheel. Maree managed to claim the King of the Mountain prime but had to ensure the help from teammates Baxter and Perry came from behind whom eventually rejoined the four leaders. With the pace being set by Perry and Baxter with 4km to go there would be no more attacks and it would all come down to another small group sprint. With about 400m to go Maree was leading it out for a sprint for Hoffman but an early attack at 300m saw Kachelhoffer open a gap on the group. Maree followed but could not catch Kachelhoffer in the final and finished 3rd with Julius Corbet finishing the stage in 2nd.
Overall
A successful day for the Tasol GT team winning 3 from 4 stages and claiming the overall title. Another good performance from Maree as he begins to step up with some credible race victories. Maree was delighted with his second victory of the season and had nothing but praise for his teamamtes and their efforts in setting him up for the win.
“The team rode an amazing race today and every rider gave 110%. Of all the riders in the race, I probably had the easiest ride due to the work my team did for me today. We have allot of young guys on this team but with the experience of Perry and Baxter looking after you they make it easy for the young guys to learn and understand. We really needed this victory as a unit” said Maree
Bismarck Du Plessis in 2012 Springbok Squad
Good luck to Bismarck and the rest of the Springbok team which includes; Springbok squad: Willem Alberts, Bjorn Basson, Marcell Coetzee, Keegan Daniel, Jean de Villiers, Bismarck du Plessis, Jannie du Plessis, JJ Engelbrecht, Eben Etzebeth, Bryan Habana, Francois Hougaard, Elton Jantjies, Ryan Kankowski, Zane Kirchner, Juandré Kruger, Werner Kruger, Patrick Lambie, Tendai Mtawarira, Lwazi Mvovo, Wynand Olivier, Coenie Oosthuizen, Ruan Pienaar, JP Pietersen, Jacques Potgieter, Chiliboy Ralepelle, Pierre Spies, Frans Steyn, Morné Steyn, Adriaan Strauss, Flip van der Merwe, Franco van der Merwe, Jano Vermaak.
Bossie Behind the Scenes with Muscle Evolution
Hoffman/ Brown Rivalry Heats Up
To read the full race report, please click here
Bismarck du Plessis - Behind the Scenes Photoshoot
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