Nolan Hoffman wants to atone for last year’s slip-up

With a new-look team to support him at the Cape Town Cycle Tour, Nolan Hoffman hopes to regain his title at the prestigious annual road race next month.

Hoffman won the 109km contest in 2014 and 2015 but settled for third place last season after being made to work hard over the climbs in the mid-stages, with RoadCover rider Clint Hendricks securing victory.

Having been confirmed in the six-man road squad announced by Team BCX on Thursday night, after local professional outfit Team Telkom was relaunched under the new brand, the sprint specialist believed he could put up a fight for a third victory in the Mother City.

“Last year we had such a stellar climbing field, and there was so much pressure going up Chappies (Chapmans Peak) and Suikerbossie,” said Hoffman, a former Track World Championships medallist.

“It just took too much effort out of me to get over those hills. I was completely finished… and I only managed third.

“But with BCX coming on board, I’m super stoked to go two steps better and that’s a big focus right now.”

David Maree, Reynard Butler, Steven van Heerden, Wesley Eslick and Calvin Beneke had also signed with the local outfit, BCX revealed, while HB Kruger and Waylon Woolcock were announced as the outfit’s two mountain bike specialists.

They were eager to focus on all disciplines at domestic level this year, according to team owner Malcolm Lange, with the squad also targeting the national track campaign.

“It’s an ambitious project trying to spread the team across three different cycling disciplines,” Lange admitted, “but we feel that we have enough talented, committed riders to achieve our objectives.”

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