News for November 1

from David Cowie at 
http://www.aztec.co.za/users/dcowie/

Boland Bank Tour, South Africa

Stage 2 : Monday, 30th October 95

123 km Road Stage : 

Paarl, Wellington, R44, Hermon, Riebeeck Kasteel,
Malmesbury, R45, Wellington, Paarl

Early results in:

Stage Result

  1. Ralf Koldewitz (GER - HAMELN-KONTOK-7)
  2. Michel Cornelisse (NED - TVM / POLIS DIRECT)

Overall

  1. Ralf Koldewitz (GER - HAMELN-KONTOK-7)  3:13:48
  2. Blayne Wikner (SA - Village WP Team) @ 10 secs
  3. Magnus Backstedt (SWE Lanken Team) @ 11 secs
  4. Malcolm Lange (SA - Old Mutual) @ 13 secs

KOM

  1. Luis M Diaz de Otazu (ESP - ONCE GRUPO DEPORTIVO) 8 points
  2. Douglas Ryder (SA - Old Mutual) 6 points
  3. Johan Bruyneel (BEL - ONCE GRUPO DEPORTIVO) 5 points
  4. Brian Holm (Telecom - TEAM TELEKOM) 4 points

Team Event

  1. Village Cycles/WP Team - 9:42:22
  2. Old Mutual South Africa @ 0:03
  3. Lanken Team @ 0:10
  4. ONCE Grupo Deportivo @ 14 secs

Points

  1. Ralf Koldewitz (GER - HAMELN-KONTOK-7) 5 points
  2. Luis M Diaz de Otazu (ESP - ONCE GRUPO DEPORTIVO) 3 points
  2. Thomas Bockmann (GER - HAMELN-KONTOK-7) 3 points
  4. Jurgen Werner : 3 points

Hotspots

  1. Luis M Diaz de Otazu (ESP - ONCE GRUPO DEPORTIVO) 3 points
  2. Siegfried Hoebel 2 points
  3. Mervyn Dinkelman (SA - COROMA DOORS) 1 point


The bunch rolled out of Paarl yesterday in good weather. No sooner were
they out the town then Mervyn Dinkelman attacked. Luis de Otazu and Thomas
Pfister covered this attack. TVM and Kontok-7 who weren't represented kept
the following pace high. Willie Engelbrecht retires complaining of a chest
problem. He had been sick with flu the week before the tour.

The break now has a gap of 1:35 and Otazu easily takes the Hotspot/Prime
sprint at 65km.

The only climb of the day is reached and Otazu piles on the pressure and
the first to go is Dinkelman and shortly after Pfister. Otazu is up ahead
climbing the hill in his big chainring. The conditions, 33 degrees
centigrade suit the Spaniard. At the top of the climb (82 km) he has a lead
of 1:20.

The bunch have swept up the two stragglers from the break. Melchor Mauri
decides domestique work is allright and goes back to fetch water for the
team from the team car.

Otazu is soon caught in the strong headwind. With 18 km to go Eric van
Lancker (BEL) of the Collstrop team launches a good attack. This is soon
brought back by the South African national team. With 5 kms to go every
team is having a go at getting away. Blayne Wikner launches a strong attack
which provides a springboard for Johan Bruyneel. TVM again pull this back
and start forming at the front. With 1km to go TVM are leading out for
Michel Cornelisse (NED). Malcolm Lange (SA) tries to come through but can't
get around the arrowhead.

Cornelisse goes early, too early it seems, still in the lead, whoops here
comes Koldewitz. Yup Koldewitz came through and takes it by a half a bike
length.

INSIDE INFO

The second place rider Cornelisse has apparently been DQ, as he was hanging
on to a truck in the convoy. There has been an appeal. Other riders
involved are 1 German, 1 SA, 1 Bel and 1 TVM rider. Apparently on the
headwind section they hung on. There was no way after being dropped on the
climb, that they would have got back to the bunch.


Boland Tour Prologue

Stage 1: Sunday, 29th October 1995 - 10:00am
3.4 km Prologue: Victoria & Alfred Waterfront

  1. Ralf Koldewitz (GER - HAMELN-KONTOK-7)  5min 22 secs
  2. Blayne Wikner (SA - WP/Village Cycles) @ 0.34 seconds
  3. Magnus Backstedt (SWE - LANKEN TEAM) @ 1.64 seconds
  4. Malcolm Lange (SA - Old Mutual National Team) @ 3.5 seconds
  5. Jac Louis Van Wyk (SA - Old Mutual National Team) @ 6.55 secs
  6. Willie Engelbrecht (SA - Old Mutual National Team) @ 7.88 secs
  7. PH Olivier (SA - WP/Village Cycles) @ 9.14 secs
  8. Melchor Mauri (ESP - ONCE GRUPO DEPORTIVO) @ 10.56 seconds
  9. Niko Eeckhoud (BEL - COLLSTROP-LYSTEX-DIAMANT) @ 11.83 secs
 10. David George (SA - WP/Village Cycles) @ 11.62 secs

Team Event

  1. Old Mutual South Africa - 16min:21secs
  2. Village Cycles/WP Team @ 5 secs
  3. Lanken Team @ 15 secs
  4. Hameln-Kontok-7 @ 20 secs
  5. ONCE Grupo Deportivo @ 27 secs
  6. Team Telekom @ 34 secs


Cape Times - 30/10/95

The infamous "Cape Doctor" played a role as Germany's Ralf Koldewitz won
the opening prologue stage of the Boland Bank cycle tour in Cape Town
yesterday. The strong south-easterly wind picked up half way through the
morning session to deny many of the favourites a chance of wearing the
leader's yellow jersey on the second "proper" stage of the Tour today.
Instead it was Koldewitz who took advantage of his early off-time to post a
time of 5 minutes 22 second, ahead of South African Blayne Wikner of
Village Cycles.

Wickner - also one of the early riders-finished just 0.34 seconds behind
Koldewitz with Sweden's Magnus Backstedt third, 1.34 seconds behind. Many
of the favourites started their prologue late as the strong wind began to
blow on the out-and-back course along the Cape Town waterfront, resulting
in the surprise win. "It was a surprise," the 26-year-old Koldewitz, a
former national track rider, admitted through an interpreter. "When I rode
the wind wasn't really a factor." "We're both the top prologue guys in the
team and we spoke to our manager about how to win the stage," Wickner said.
"That's when we decided to put me in early and David (George) later."

It proved a wise decision as George - who recently broke the SA record in
the pursuit event at the World Championships in Columbia earlier this year
- could only manage tenth place 11 seconds behind Koldewitz. he tactics
meant, however, that the team finished second in the team event behind the
SA national outfit led by Malcolm Lange. Lange finished fourth yesterday,
three seconds behind with teammate Jac-Louis van Wyk fifth and Willie
Engelbrecht sixth. Pre-race favourite Melchor Mauri, who finished sixth in
this year's Tour de France, finished eighth - ten seconds behind.