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12th Giro del Capo - 2.5
South Africa, March 11-15, 2003
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Stage 4 - March 14: Cape Town circuit, 40 km (10 x 4 km)
David George under pressure
By Jean-François Quénet in Cape Town
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Stage 4 in the Giro del Capo did not change anything in the overall standings. The leaders in the race were afraid of the criterium in Cape Town because over a short distance (41.3km) it's hard to keep everything under control. The stage finished in a sprint won by German Jonas Ocwzarek ahead of his compatriot and Lamonta teammate Bjorn Glasner.
20 year old Darren Lill (HSBC) didn't have any problems in keeping the pink jersey he has worn since stage 1. "That day was a good one for me," he said. "I even attacked at the end but I only had a small gap at the top, and as I was going quickly on the downhill, my pedal touched the ground twice. It cost me the gap and I couldn't establish it again."
Lill now has 6 seconds advantage on Jens Heppner, 8 seconds on Mattias Carlsson and 11 seconds on David George. The final classification will be decided on Saturday in the time trial up Signal Hill. "It's going to be very difficult to beat George," Lill reckoned. "The jersey will give me an extra motivation for sure. I ran6th or 7th last year, I'm sure I'll do a lot better. I'll do my best, that's all I can say."
There's also a competition between him and Minolta's Eckard Bergh for the best young rider. Bergh lies 5th on GC, only 12 seconds behind Lill. He won the junior competition in the 94.7 in November last year and he's the great revelation of South African cycling this year. "But I have no idea what I can do in this time trial," he said. "It's my first year Under 23 and my first Giro del Capo. In the future I want to see myself into a TT1 and riding the Tour de France, but for this race I'm hoping to a top 10 finish."
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Another interesting wearer of a leader's jersey (points) is Simon Kessler (Microsoft), who kept his position after winning stage 2. He took another good third place the in Cape Town criterium today. Talking about the overall win, he said, "If David [George] has the same form as last year, he has won the race. But I don't feel that he actually has the same form as last year."
But the man himself, David George, says, "Yes I do have the same form as last year."
Is he now in the situation he hoped for four days ago? "Absolutely! I could have tried to get the pink jersey earlier but we have defended it anyway."
That's what amazed everyone here: Team Barloworld rode for four days as if they were leading the race. And they put all their eggs in the same basket. It's very unusual in cycling but apparently not in South Africa. During this criterium, the two Barloworld Frenchmen Éric Berthou and Sylvain Calzati kept the bunch all together as long as they could, then Tiaan Kannemeyer took over and Jaco Odendaal stayed close to George until the end.
So, are there any surprises to come? Not from Jens Heppner who's still second on GC. At least that's what he predicts: "No, I can definitely not win this race. I had a problem with a knee so I had an operation in October and now my form is not so good, not good enough for a time trial. I'm here mainly to prepare for the next races, the ones that are very important for my team Wiesenhof, which are the Henninger Turm, the Peace Race and the Tour of Germany."
George's teammate Calzati would easily put some money on Englishman Jonathan Dayus, riding as a neo-pro for Team Ringerike. "I know him from the French amateur races and I can see how fit he is now. He had a flat tyre today in the criterium and he came across to the bunch like a rocket." Dayus was actually brought back by his Australian team-mate Simon Gerrans who had a puncture himself later.
Team Barloworld has ridden the race as if there was no threat at all for George. But the pressure is on now!
Photos
Images by Jean-Francois Quenet
- David George (Barloworld) warming up for the crucial time trial
- Aussie gathering - Simon Gerrans (Team Ringerike) receives a visit from Hilton Clarke and Sean Sullivan, both in super shape for the Pick'n Pay Argus Cycle Tour on Sunday
- Mixed expressions on the podium - Bjorn Glasner (Lamonta, L, 2nd), Wolfgang Owczarek (Lamonta, M, 1st) and Simon Kessler (Microsoft, R, 3rd)
- Phil Liggett speaks with the young leader Darren Lill (HSBC), who still holds a slender six second margin over
- The leaders of the various classifications - David George (Barloworld, far L) is the King of the Mountains, Simon Kessler (Microsoft, L) leads the points competition, Eckard Bergh (Minolta, R) is the best young rider after Darren Lill and Darren Lill (HSBC) has the pink jersey of overall leader
Results
1 Wolfgang Owczarek (Ger) Lamonta 1.03.24 2 Bjorn Glasner (Ger) Lamonta 3 Simon Kessler (RSA) Microsoft 4 Jens Heppner (Ger) Wiesenhof Leipzig 5 Enrico Poitschke (Ger) Wiesenhof Leipzig 6 Lubor Tesar (Cze) e'Dsystem-ZVVZ 7 Darren Lill (RSA) HSBC 8 Luke Roberts (Aus) Comnet-Senges 9 Hans-Jurgen Juratzek (Ger) Comnet-Senges 10 Mattias Carlsson (Swe) Team Ringerike 11 Ian McLeod (RSA) HSBC 12 Adrian Ilsley (RSA) Minolta 13 Jaco Odendaal (RSA) Barloworld 14 David George (RSA) Barloworld 15 Rupert Rheeder (RSA) Eyeperoptics/Queens 16 Thomas Ziegler (Ger) Wiesenhof Leipzig 17 Eckard Bergh (RSA) Minolta 18 Jeremy Maartens (RSA) HSBC 19 Alex Galvin (RSA) Minolta 20 Morné Bester (RSA) Microsoft 21 Jonathan Dayus (GBr) Team Ringerike 22 Mannie Heymans (RSA) Eyeperoptics/Queens 23 Reinhardt du Plessis (RSA) Minolta 24 Travis Allen (RSA) Calcium-Hexal Panda 25 Adrian Maaske (RSA) Minolta 26 Martin Pieterse (RSA) Calcium-Hexal Panda 27 Mark Wilcox (RSA) CSC/CVT 28 Daniel Spence (RSA) HSBC 29 Michal Precechtel (Cze) e'Dsystem-ZVVZ 0.13 30 Daniel Meinke (Ger) Comnet-Senges 0.28 31 Chris Willemse (RSA) Chris Willemse Cycles 32 Chris Esch (RSA) CSC/CVT 1.28 33 Eric Baumann (Ger) Wiesenhof Leipzig 34 Bjorn Papstein (Ger) Lamonta 35 Eric Furstenburg (RSA) Eyeperoptics/Queens 1.51 36 Jock Green (RSA) HSBC 37 Craig Butland (RSA) BOE/Italian Connection 4.16 38 Geddan Ruddock (RSA) Vineyard Hotel/Breitling 4.46 39 Neil Timm (RSA) BOE/Italian Connection 5.02 40 Simon Brown (RSA) CSC/CVT 5.28 41 Willie van Zyl (RSA) Eyeperoptics/Queens 5.48 42 Paul Minnaar (RSA) BOE/Italian Connection 43 Charl Van Wyk (RSA) Sub 3 6.01 44 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Team Ringerike 6.06 45 Tiaan Kannemeyer (RSA) Barloworld 46 Johan van der Berg (RSA) Microsoft 47 Gabriel Rasch (Nor) Team Ringerike 48 Kevin Evans (RSA) Vineyard Hotel/Breitling 49 Graeme Cronjé (RSA) Calcium-Hexal Panda 9.21 50 Gareth Rawson (RSA) HAV Carpets 51 Dirk Vobbe (RSA) Vineyard Hotel/Breitling 52 Douglas Ryder (RSA) Microsoft 53 JC Jooste (RSA) HAV Carpets 54 Steve Sergeant (RSA) Vineyard Hotel/Breitling 55 Darryl Impey (RSA) Microsoft 56 Jacques Goosen (RSA) CSC/CVT 57 Alastair Andrews (RSA) SA Development 58 Claude Roestoff (RSA) SA Development 59 Martin Müller (Ger) Wiesenhof Leipzig 60 Sebastian Drenker (Ger) Lamonta 61 Alexander Milner (RSA) Sub 3 62 Brian Loff (RSA) SA Development 63 Sylvain Calzati (Fra) Barloworld 64 Martin Laciak (Cze) e'Dsystem-ZVVZ 65 Eric Berthou (Fra) Barloworld 66 Jaco Ferreira (RSA) Eyeperoptics/Queens 67 JP Fourie (RSA) HAV Carpets 15.51 68 Jean-Claude Pretorius (RSA) Chris Willemse Cyc 69 Robbie Rodrigues (RSA) BOE/Italian Connection 70 Anton van der Merwe (RSA) BOE/Italian Connecti 19.06 71 Philip Schoeman (RSA) Sub 3 General classification after stage 4 1 Darren Lill (RSA) HSBC 12.43.43 2 Jens Heppner (Ger) Wiesenhof Leipzig 0.06 3 Mattias Carlsson (Swe) Team Ringerike 0.08 4 David George (RSA) Barloworld 0.11 5 Eckard Bergh (RSA) Minolta 0.12 6 Adrian Maaske (RSA) Minolta 7 Enrico Poitschke (Ger) Wiesenhof Leipzig 0.16 8 Mannie Heymans (RSA) Eyeperoptics/Queens 9 Ian McLeod (RSA) HSBC 0.22 10 Jonathan Dayus (GBr) Team Ringerike 0.23 11 Adrian Ilsley (RSA) Minolta 0.26 12 Luke Roberts (Aus) Comnet-Senges 0.29 13 Morné Bester (RSA) Microsoft 14 Jeremy Maartens (RSA) HSBC 0.37 15 Jaco Odendaal (RSA) Barloworld 0.54 16 Thomas Ziegler (Ger) Wiesenhof Leipzig 1.16 17 Eric Baumann (Ger) Wiesenhof Leipzig 5.24 18 Alex Galvin (RSA) Minolta 6.36 19 Reinhardt du Plessis (RSA) Minolta 7.11 20 Michal Precechtel (Cze) e'Dsystem-ZVVZ 7.29 21 Chris Willemse (RSA) Chris Willemse Cycles 7.48 22 Jock Green (RSA) HSBC 8.32 23 Bjorn Glasner (Ger) Lamonta 9.41 24 Hans-Jurgen Juratzek (Ger) Comnet-Senges 10.28 25 Simon Kessler (RSA) Microsoft 11.22 26 Eric Furstenburg (RSA) Eyeperoptics/Queens 12.19 27 Martin Laciak (Cze) e'Dsystem-ZVVZ 13.25 28 Gabriel Rasch (Nor) Team Ringerike 14.12 29 Daniel Meinke (Ger) Comnet-Senges 15.27 30 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Team Ringerike 16.13 31 Lubor Tesar (Cze) e'Dsystem-ZVVZ 16.52 32 Martin Müller (Ger) Wiesenhof Leipzig 18.31 33 Mark Wilcox (RSA) CSC/CVT 19.10 34 Daniel Spence (RSA) HSBC 20.09 35 Travis Allen (RSA) Calcium-Hexal Panda 21.36 36 Martin Pieterse (RSA) Calcium-Hexal Panda 22.18 37 Tiaan Kannemeyer (RSA) Barloworld 22.36 38 Paul Minnaar (RSA) BOE/Italian Connection 24.27 39 Wolfgang Owczarek (Ger) Lamonta 25.05 40 Johan van der Berg (RSA) Microsoft 27.35 41 Graeme Cronjé (RSA) Calcium-Hexal Panda 30.11 42 Alastair Andrews (RSA) SA Development 30.12 43 Craig Butland (RSA) BOE/Italian Connection 31.10 44 Neil Timm (RSA) BOE/Italian Connection 31.37 45 Willie van Zyl (RSA) Eyeperoptics/Queens 32.28 46 Alexander Milner (RSA) Sub 3 33.25 47 Bjorn Papstein (Ger) Lamonta 34.57 48 Darryl Impey (RSA) Microsoft 35.25 49 Douglas Ryder (RSA) Microsoft 37.47 50 Claude Roestoff (RSA) SA Development 38.09 51 Charl Van Wyk (RSA) Sub 3 41.12 52 Sebastian Drenker (Ger) Lamonta 43.18 53 Eric Berthou (Fra) Barloworld 44.25 54 Sylvain Calzati (Fra) Barloworld 45.49 55 Anton van der Merwe (RSA) BOE/Italian Connecti 45.52 56 Brian Loff (RSA) SA Development 49.23 57 Kevin Evans (RSA) Vineyard Hotel/Breitling 56.05 58 Dirk Vobbe (RSA) Vineyard Hotel/Breitling 59.36 59 Steve Sergeant (RSA) Vineyard Hotel/Breitling 60 Rupert Rheeder (RSA) Eyeperoptics/Queens 1.00.11 61 Simon Brown (RSA) CSC/CVT 1.01.36 62 Geddan Ruddock (RSA) Vineyard Hotel/Breitling 1.01.51 63 Chris Esch (RSA) CSC/CVT 1.03.20 64 JC Jooste (RSA) HAV Carpets 1.03.44 65 Jaco Ferreira (RSA) Eyeperoptics/Queens 1.05.01 66 JP Fourie (RSA) HAV Carpets 1.05.44 67 Philip Schoeman (RSA) Sub 3 1.11.00 68 Robbie Rodrigues (RSA) BOE/Italian Connection 1.11.58 69 Jacques Goosen (RSA) CSC/CVT 1.13.56 70 Jean-Claude Pretorius (RSA) Chris Willemse Cyc 1.18.13 71 Gareth Rawson (RSA) HAV Carpets 1.24.06 Points classification 1 Simon Kessler (RSA) Microsoft 20 pts 2 Luke Roberts (Aus) Comnet-Senges 12 3 Bjorn Glasner (Ger) Lamonta 12 4 Darren Lill (RSA) HSBC 12 5 Wolfgang Owczarek (Ger) Lamonta 10 6 Enrico Poitschke (Ger) Wiesenhof Leipzig 10 7 Jock Green (RSA) HSBC 8 8 Eric Baumann (Ger) Wiesenhof Leipzig 7 9 Jens Heppner (Ger) Wiesenhof Leipzig 6 10 Graeme Cronjé (RSA) Calcium-Hexal Panda 5 11 Johan van der Berg (RSA) Microsoft 4 12 Thomas Ziegler (Ger) Wiesenhof Leipzig 4 13 Mattias Carlsson (Swe) Team Ringerike 4 14 Ian McLeod (RSA) HSBC 4 15 Darryl Impey (RSA) Microsoft 3 16 Douglas Ryder (RSA) Microsoft 2 17 David George (RSA) Barloworld 1 18 Morné Bester (RSA) Microsoft 1 19 Willie van Zyl (RSA) Eyeperoptics/Queens 1 Mountains classification 1 David George (RSA) Barloworld 34 pts 2 Eric Baumann (Ger) Wiesenhof Leipzig 32 3 Jeremy Maartens (RSA) HSBC 28 4 Jock Green (RSA) HSBC 28 5 Jaco Odendaal (RSA) Barloworld 27 6 Thomas Ziegler (Ger) Wiesenhof Leipzig 25 7 Graeme Cronjé (RSA) Calcium-Hexal Panda 23 8 Johan van der Berg (RSA) Microsoft 18 9 Tiaan Kannemeyer (RSA) Barloworld 13 10 Alex Galvin (RSA) Minolta 10 11 Adrian Maaske (RSA) Minolta 8 12 Jacques Goosen (RSA) CSC/CVT 6 13 Enrico Poitschke (Ger) Wiesenhof Leipzig 6 14 Ian McLeod (RSA) HSBC 6 15 Darren Lill (RSA) HSBC 5 16 Daniel Spence (RSA) HSBC 4 17 Anton van der Merwe (RSA) BOE/Italian Connecti 4 18 Geddan Ruddock (RSA) Vineyard Hotel/Breitling 4 19 Adrian Ilsley (RSA) Minolta 4 20 Eckard Bergh (RSA) Minolta 3 21 Rupert Rheeder (RSA) Eyeperoptics/Queens 2 22 Bjorn Glasner (Ger) Lamonta 2 Teams classification 1 Minolta 38.11.59 2 HSBC 0.20 3 Wiesenhof Leipzig 1.08 4 Ringerike 13.50 5 Barloworld 22.52 6 Comnet-Senges 25.46 7 eD'System-ZVVZ 36.56 8 Microsoft 37.31 9 Eyeperoptics/Queens 37.39 10 Lamonta 49.02 11 Calcium-Hexal Panda 1.13.20 12 BOE-Italian 1.22.49 13 SACF Developement 1.56.54 14 CVT 2.14.20 15 Sub 3 2.24.47 16 Vineyard Hotel/Breitling 2.49.40 17 HAV Carpets 3.32.44
