{"id":20021,"date":"2013-05-28T20:58:41","date_gmt":"2013-05-28T18:58:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/jock-takes-a-detour-for-30th-edition\/"},"modified":"2013-05-28T20:58:41","modified_gmt":"2013-05-28T18:58:41","slug":"jock-takes-a-detour-for-30th-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/jock-takes-a-detour-for-30th-edition\/","title":{"rendered":"Jock takes a detour for 30th edition"},"content":{"rendered":"

South Africa\u2019s toughest one-day race, the BESTmed Jock Cycle Classique will take a detour onto a brand-new route for its 30th edition on July 20.<\/p>\n

The three-stage national classic, which is presented by ASG, traditionally takes place on a triangular route between Barberton, Kaapmuiden and Nelspruit in Mpumalanga. But this year it has been diverted for that most mundane of reasons \u2013 roadworks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe route changes are due to roadworks on the N4 toll route in the area of Mara Valley and the Gorge,\u201d says route director Egbert de Bruyn.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are stop\/go controls there and the route over Boulders is the alternative route, so the concessionaire (TRAC) would not give us permission to use that road at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

De Bruyn says having to work around these obstructions has essentially resulted in a whole new race.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything changes \u2013 from start and stop-over points, to new waterpoints. And where Barberton used to be the main focal point of the race, we are not even going to pass through it this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe race will now centre on Nelspruit.\u201d<\/p>\n

This means that the infamous Hilltop and Boulders climbs, which have been the undoing of many a roadie, are now conspicuous by their absence.<\/p>\n

But, says De Bruyn, the new course still offers riders a leg-numbing, heart-racing 151km challenge in the heart of winter.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs everybody knows, the Jock is the toughest one-dayer in the country and this new route has some fresh challenges of its own.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 43km first stage starts from the Mbombela Stadium near Nelspruit at 6.30am and features 20km of hard pedalling on gradients of between two and six percent.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen we have the extremely challenging Heidel Eggs climb. At two kilometres long, it\u2019s shorter than Hilltop but more or less the same ascent.\u201d<\/p>\n

The stage terminates along the White River Road with breakfast at the Rob Ferreira School.<\/p>\n

At 9am, the 45km second stage heads out in the direction of Sabie over the 7km Spitskop climb, which is the same length as Boulders. For those who make it over the top, a welcome lunch break awaits at Sabie Primary School.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough stage two is shorter than the second stage last year, the first 15 kilometres is over rolling hills as opposed to the previous flat roads,\u201d says De Bruyn.<\/p>\n

After lunch, at around 12.30pm, the 63km final stage sees riders return to Nelspruit via Long Tom Pass.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last stage begins with 10 kilometres of tough climbing up the pass that will drain riders\u2019 energy right from the start.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is mostly downhill after that but, he says, the legs will have to last 18km longer than the previous year.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, all in all, it\u2019s still a tough race all round.\u201d<\/p>\n

With 20 lead-out vehicles plus motorcyclists and traffic officials on hand, De Bruyn says the one thing riders do not have to worry about is their safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany races, like the national champs and Panorama Tour, are held annually on these routes and the motorists in this area are much more relaxed and forgiving.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to race organiser Wynand de Villiers, the field will be limited to 1 500 participants.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe nature of the riding terrain in the Lowveld is such that no cycling event is going to be easy \u2013 the road either goes up or down! So this year\u2019s Jock will be as tough, if not tougher than previous years.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the absence of reigning champion Reinardt Janse van Rensburg, a new crop of pros will compete to take the title of toughest rider.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the MTN-Qhubeka feeder team will be the ones to beat this year,\u201d says De Villiers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have shown themselves to be a complete outfit by winning the team time-trial at the SA champs and their African riders are very good climbers.\u201d<\/p>\n

He says riders who would like to do two stages will join the tour in White River, while those wishing to complete just one leg will start with the final lot in Sabie.<\/p>\n

He says the 5.30pm cut-off time will be strictly enforced on the last stage.<\/p>\n

\u201cRiders can\u2019t think that they can tackle the Jock without training. It\u2019s a tough ride in anyone\u2019s terms \u2013 if you don\u2019t train, you won\u2019t make it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Enter online at www.asgevents.co.za before July 9. For updates, find the race on Facebook or follow @jockcycle.<\/p>\n

URL<\/strong>: http:\/\/www.asgevents.co.za<\/a>
Twitter<\/strong>: https:\/\/twitter.com\/fullstop<\/a>
Facebook<\/strong>:
YouTube<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

Author: Coetzee Gouws<\/strong> from Full Stop Communications<\/a>. Originally distributed by MyPR.co.za<\/a>.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

No of Images Uploaded: One<\/strong><\/p>\n

To gain access to One<\/em> image\/s please Like, Tweet or +1 this article:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\"Bestmed-Jock-Cycle-Classique-photo\"
\nAn MTN-Qhubeka rider leads the bunch up a climb in last year\u2019s Bestmed Jock Cycle Classique. Photographer: Supplied<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South Africa\u2019s toughest one-day race, the BESTmed Jock Cycle Classique will take a detour onto a brand-new route for its 30th edition on July 20. The three-stage national classic, which is presented by ASG, traditionally takes place on a triangular route between Barberton, Kaapmuiden and Nelspruit in Mpumalanga. But this year it has been diverted […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[3257,1452],"class_list":{"0":"post-20021","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-south-africa","7":"tag-mypr","8":"tag-public-relations","9":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20021"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20021\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}