Former national time trial champion James Perry showed his natural flair when he launched a solo attack, with kilometres to go, to take an unchallenged victory in the Emperors Palace Cycle Classic, on April 13.
The 34-year-old Team Abantu cyclist claimed his maiden win in the 102km feature race, which passed by OR Tambo International Airport, in two hours, 17 minutes and 55 seconds.
Calvin Beneke (Team EuropcarSA) and defending champion David Maree (Team Abantu) finished more than 30 seconds back, in second and third places, respectively.
Perry said the race started at a furious pace, with Team Abantu putting two of its riders, Reynard Butler and Myles van Musschenbroek, into the first break of the day.
“This put Team Bonitas under pressure and we let them chase for about 50km,” he explained.
“I noticed that they were starting to tire out just before the break was caught, so I told my team to start the attack.”
This resulted in a select group of about 15 riders going clear, with about 30km to go, and chasing down the two leaders, van Musschenbroek and James Fourie (Team EuropcarSA).
“Just before we caught them, with about 12km to go, I launched my final attack and nobody was able to follow me, so I managed to ride solo to the finish due to the efforts of my team,” said Perry.
He explained that his team had originally planned a sprint finish for teammate Nolan Hoffman, who had won the points jersey in the Bestmed Tour de Boland and Mzansi Tour in recent weeks, but mechanical problems put paid to this strategy.
“I had the best legs on the day, so the weight fell on my shoulders,” added Perry.
He rode into form during last week’s Mzansi Tour, and also took the Wilro 100 Lions Cycle Challenge, earlier this month.
In the women’s race, Lise Olivier (Time Freight-Velo Life) held her nerve to win a small bunch sprint to the line.
Olivier, who was runner-up in the Tour de Boland, after winning the final stage, crossed the line in two hours, 47 minutes and 40 seconds, one second ahead of Anriette Schoeman (Africa Silks-Bestmed) and An-Li Kachelhoffer (Activate Drinks).
On April 12, Ian Pienaar and Jessica Alcock won the 40km Mountain Bike division.
The race routes crossed the grounds of the O R Tambo International Airport — allowing riders to ride parallel to, but a safe distance from the runways — which was one of the major attractions of the event.
The race formed part of the annual Emperors Palace Classic, presented by ASG, and attracted 6 000 cyclists.
Victory in the women’s event went to 2013 National Junior Marathon champion Jessica Alcock (Team Jeep SA), in a time of two hours and 54 seconds.
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