After four second place finishes in the aQuellé Tour Durban presented by Sunday Tribune Herman Fouché returns for a ninth time on Sunday 26 April determined to finally secure the prized classic title for Team Bonitas and erase his bridesmaid reputation at the race.
Bonitas star Herman Fouché winning the Emperors Palace Classic title, boosting his teams confidence ahead of the aQuellé Tour Durban presented by Sunday Tribune. // Yolanda van der Stoep/ Gameplan Media.
The 28 year-old former Cape Town Cycle Tour winner won the aQuellé Tour Durban title as an Under 16 and again as an Under 18 but the elite title has eluded him during the reign of Team Abantu and the dominance of Nolan Hoffman.
“I’d really like to win this year and finally get that monkey off my back,” said Fouché. “As a team we want to break the hold that Team Abantu has created over the event in the last number of years “
After four second place finishes Team Bonitas star Herman Fouché is hungry to finally win the aQuellé Tour Durban presented by Sunday Tribune title and end the reign of Team Abantu at the event. // Team Bonitas/ Gameplan Media.
The strong six-man Bonitas outfit will come into the 2015 edition of the Durban classic full of confidence after an impressive win in the Emperors Palace Classic earlier in the month.
“It was a superb team performance,” said Fouché. “Everyone played their part and brought me to the line brilliantly. So we will travel to Durban full of confidence and in great spirits.”
The Bonitas outfit is placing a lot of emphasis on the UCI points-bearing races making up the CSA Autumn Series in the week following the aQuellé Tour Durban, and sees the Durban classic as the ideal warm-up for the Freedom Challenge and the other races in the province.
“Our team has some very strong climbers, and while the Tour Durban is mostly flat, there are still a number of key climbs that we want to make work for the team in getting ahead of the field and we know that Abantu are really strong at bringing back the breaks, so we will need to be good on the day,” said Fouché.
Fouché said the unique challenges of the final kilometre of the race always played a major role in deciding who gets to the line with a chance at sprinting to victory.
“Those two corners at the end are critical and you have to have your lead out well organised,” said Fouché. “Plenty of good riders have lost out in those last six to eight hundred metres.”
More information can be found at www.tourdurban.co.za.
