{"id":21294,"date":"2013-07-22T00:05:52","date_gmt":"2013-07-21T22:05:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/girdlestone-narrowly-seals-second-jock-title\/"},"modified":"2013-07-22T00:05:52","modified_gmt":"2013-07-21T22:05:52","slug":"girdlestone-narrowly-seals-second-jock-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/girdlestone-narrowly-seals-second-jock-title\/","title":{"rendered":"Girdlestone narrowly seals second Jock title"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dylan Girdlestone sealed his second overall victory in the 151km Bestmed Jock Cycle Classique in a dramatic two-man sprint in the third and final stage at Mbombela in Mpumalanga on Saturday.<\/p>\n

In the dash to the line, the Westvaal-BMC rider got the better of MTN-Qhubeka\u2019s Ethiopian climber Alem Grmay to steal the stage and overall wins by a single second.<\/p>\n

After a series of well-timed attacks by Girdlestone, the two broke clear of the group containing the main contenders in sight of the finish at the Mbombela Stadium.<\/p>\n

The 23-year-old from Pretoria completed the 30th edition of what is believed to be South Africa\u2019s toughest road race in a combined time of 3:43:02. Westvaal\u2019s Nico Bell secured the final step on the podium in 3:43:12.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels just as good as the first time I won it,\u201d said an elated Girdlestone. \u201cI\u2019ve always put the Jock down as one of my goal races because it suits me really well.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year\u2019s route was very much like the old one in that you have a hard final stage with a tough last few kilometres.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe trick is to stay protected and if you\u2019ve had the easiest ride there, you\u2019ll have the most power \u2013 which is exactly what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although Girdlestone\u2019s small five-man outfit was without the services of Tyler and Dusty Day, he said they had raced tactically to be able to compete against the numerically superior teams.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe plan was for my team-mates to have an easy ride in the first two stages. I said, \u2018You can drop off, just don\u2019t get eliminated\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we went into the last stage all guns blazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Team Abantu sprinter Nolan Hoffman took the day\u2019s first yellow jersey when he came out tops in a bunch sprint in the 43km opening stage between Mbombela, formerly Nelspruit, and White River.<\/p>\n

Hoffman crossed the line in 1:05:08 to edge ahead of MTN-Qhubeka\u2019s Ryan Gibbons and team-mate David Maree.<\/p>\n

On stage two, a grippy 45km ride from White River to Sabie, Grmay and team-mate Yohans Getachew took advantage of an early attack by Europcar\u2019s Paul van Zweel to forge ahead of the front group over the steep 7km Spitskop climb.<\/p>\n

They were reeled in less than a kilometre from the finish by a four-man chase group consisting of Bonitas\u2019s Willie Smit, MTN-Qhubeka\u2019s Nicolas Dougall, Van Zweel and Girdlestone.<\/p>\n

Grmay held on for the win ahead of Smit and Dougall as the front-runners were all credited with a time of 1:09:40. With Hoffman distanced on the climbs, yellow went to Smit.<\/p>\n

With time gaps almost negligible, it all came down to the 63km final stage between Sabie and Mbombela, which included an 8km ascent of the iconic Long Tom Pass.<\/p>\n

Girdlestone, who won the final stage of the Mzansi Tour earlier this year, said the win had given the team renewed confidence ahead of next month\u2019s Clover Lowveld Tour.<\/p>\n

In the women\u2019s race, it was a clean sweep for the Bestmed-ASG squad.<\/p>\n

Captain An-Li Kachelhoffer took the overall honours in 4:29:46, ahead of team-mates Ashleigh Blackwell and Linda van den Biggelaar, who both finished in 4:33:40.<\/p>\n

Although roadworks forced organisers ASG to deviate from the traditional route, more than 1 500 riders took on the challenge.<\/p>\n

OVERALL RESULTS<\/p>\n

Elite Men<\/p>\n

1. Dylan Girdlestone (Westvaal-BMC) 3:43:02
\n2. Alem Grmay (MTN-Qhubeka) 3:43:03
\n3. Nico Bell (Westvaal\/Bell\u2019s Cycling) 3:43:12
\n4. Nicolas Dougall (MTN-Qhubeka) 3:43:12
\n5. Paul van Zweel (Europcar) 3:43:12
\n6. Kevin Patten (ASG) 3:43:22
\n7. Yohans Getachew (MTN-Qhubeka) 3:43:28
\n8. Willie Smit (Bonitas) 3:43:44
\n9. Ryan Gibbons (MTN-Qhubeka) 3:44:41
\n10. JJ van Wyk (MTN-Qhubeka) 3:44:46<\/p>\n

Elite Women<\/p>\n

1. An-Li Kachelhoffer (Team Bestmed-ASG) 4:29:46
\n2. Ashleigh Blackwell (Team Bestmed-ASG) 4:33:40
\n3. Linda van den Biggelaar (Team Bestmed-ASG) 4:33:40
\n4. Lynette Burger (Toyota-Momentum) 4:37:05
\n5. Lee Zaan Henrichsen (TCS) 4:37:33<\/p>\n

STAGE RESULTS<\/p>\n

Men<\/p>\n

Stage 1<\/p>\n

1. Nolan Hoffman (Abantu) 1:05:08
\n2. Ryan Gibbons (MTN-Qhubeka) 1:05:08
\n3. David Maree (Abantu) 1:05:08
\n4. HB Kruger (Bonitas) 1:05:08
\n5. Willie Smit (Bonitas) 1:05:08<\/p>\n

Stage 2<\/p>\n

1. Alem Grmay (MTN-Qhubeka) 1:09:40
\n2. Willie Smit (Bonitas) 1:09:40
\n3. Nicolas Dougall (MTN-Qhubeka) 1:09:40
\n4. Paul van Zweel (Europcar) 1:09:40
\n5. Dylan Girdlestone (Westvaal-BMC) 1:09:40<\/p>\n

Stage 3<\/p>\n

1. Dylan Girdlestone (Westvaal-BMC) 1:28:09
\n2. Alem Grmay (MTN-Qhubeka) 1:28:10
\n3. Nolan Hoffman (Abantu) 1:28:19
\n4. Shaun Nick Bester (Westvaal-BMC) 1:28:19
\n5. Nicolas Dougall (MTN-Qhubeka) 1:28:19<\/p>\n

Women<\/p>\n

Stage 1<\/p>\n

1. An-Li Kachelhoffer (Bestmed-ASG) 01:14:11
\n2. Ashleigh Blackwell (Bestmed-ASG) 01:17:45
\n3. Lynette Burger (Toyota-Momentum) 01:17:45
\n4. Linda van den Biggelaar (Bestmed-ASG) 01:17:45
\n5. Catherine Albertyn (Cycle Lab Super Cycling Club) 01:17:45<\/p>\n

Stage 2<\/p>\n

1. An-Li Kachelhoffer (Bestmed-ASG) 01:25:30
\n2. Lee Zaan Henrichsen (TCS) 01:25:30
\n3. Linda van den Biggelaar (Bestmed-ASG) 01:25:50
\n4. Ashleigh Blackwell (Bestmed-ASG) 01:25:50
\n5. Lynette Burger (Toyota-Momentum) 01:29:15<\/p>\n

Stage 3<\/p>\n

1. Lynette Burger (Toyota-Momentum) 01:50:05
\n2. Ashleigh Blackwell (Bestmed-ASG) 01:50:05
\n3. An-Li Kachelhoffer (Bestmed-ASG) 01:50:05
\n4. Linda van den Biggelaar (Bestmed-ASG) 01:50:05
\n5. Elmarie de Wet 1:50:34<\/p>\n

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

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\"small\"
\nWestvaal-BMC\u2019s Dylan Girdlestone celebrates his second victory in the Bestmed Jock Cycle Classique, presented by ASG, at the Mbombela Stadium on Saturday. Photographer: Action Photo<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dylan Girdlestone sealed his second overall victory in the 151km Bestmed Jock Cycle Classique in a dramatic two-man sprint in the third and final stage at Mbombela in Mpumalanga on Saturday. In the dash to the line, the Westvaal-BMC rider got the better of MTN-Qhubeka\u2019s Ethiopian climber Alem Grmay to steal the stage and overall […]<\/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-21294","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\/21294","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=21294"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21294\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}