ProTouch Cycling Continental Team performs on local debut
The seven-stage Mpumalanga Tour from 11 to 17 January marked the debut of ProTouch Cycling's Continental Team.
Honeydew-based ProTouch Cycling’s Continental Team experienced admirable success at its first team event, the Mpumalanga Tour, which took place from 11 to 17 January.
The tour came at a busy time in the team’s final preparations for its first UCI Africa 2,1 Tour event, La Tropicale Amissa Bongo in Gabon, which started on 21 January and concluded on 27 January, and will consist of seven stages spanning 998km. But before the Continental team could move on to Gabon, they had to tackle Mpumalanga first, doing so in rather admirable fashion.
In the Elite Men’s category, ProTouch finished off with Rohan du Plooy – who was making his debut in a ProTouch jersey – taking home the Green Jersey for the most points across all seven stages. Rohan also took the Stage 5 win and finished in second place in Stage 7 (just behind World Tour Rider Willie Smit), managing to finish as the top-placed ProTouch rider in 17th place on the general classification rankings.
Jaydé Julius, a ProTouch veteran, had two second place stage finishes (Stages 1 and 4), ending in 19th place on the general classification rankings, while first year elite rider Mornay van Heerden completed the Continental Team’s podium placings with a third place in Stage 3. Songezo Jim rounded out the Top 20 as the third ProTouch rider to finish inside the Top 20.
Callum Ormiston, a first year U/23 rider for ProTouch, had an impressive showing, finishing in fourth place in Stage 6, managing to finish in ninth place in the U/23 category. Callum wasn’t the only rider from ProTouch’s U/23 team to finish inside the Top 10, as Ryan Terry finished in tenth place. Both Callum and Ryan went on to finish off first (Ryan Terry) and third (Callum Ormiston) in the Gauteng Provincials Individual Time Trial held on Saturday, 19 January.
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