Loving the Speed of Kristian House over the finish line

19th February 2011 – Stage 1: Menlyn Park Shopping Centre to Montecasino: 154km

1. Kristian House – Rapha Condor Sharp – 03h42’03”
2. Herman Fouche – DCM @44’25”
3. Milan Kadlec – Team Czech Republic@44’25”

The inaugural Cell C Tour of South Africa kicked off at the Menlyn Shopping Centre this morning just after 10am with a host of support from the public at the start and along the route.

The start of the race was extremely fast paced and according to Race Director Barry Austin, it took approximately 15 minutes to cross from one side of Tshwane to the other.  A couple of riders broke away about 10kms into the race, the most aggressive team of the day was definitely Team Rapha Condor Sharp.  Once Rapha launched the first attack they were chased down by Team DCM. However, former British National Road Champion, House and Martin Blaha managed to open up a sizeable lead of 5.49minutes after 2hrs 25 of racing. A Team Europcar rider together with 360Life and Toyota Academy tried to get across but the move was neutralized by the peloton.

Blaha stayed with House for 90 minutes until the pace proved too much for him allowing the Rapha Condor Sharp rider to ride solo to the finish.

During an aggressive chase by MTN Qhubeka, the bunch split in two and an unfortunate crash happened where Europcar rider, 2010 KOM winner in the Tour de France Anthony Charteau  and approximately 20 other rides went down, including Chris Jennings, and Rapha Condor Sharp rider Graham Briggs who got injured, but managed to finish the race.

Best African Rider – DCM – Herman Fouche
Samsung Best Young Rider – Team Bonitas- Tyler Day
King of the Mountain – Rapha Condor Sharp – Dan Craven
Points Classification Jersey – Rapha Condor Sharp – Kristian House
General Classification Jersey – Rapha Condor Sharp – Kristian House

For high resolution images of the day please log on to www.craigdutton.com