![\"ccs-62657-0-00553400-1456760909.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ccs-62657-0-00553400-1456760909.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Nolan Hoffman of Team Telkom won the first stage of the Bestmed Tour of Good Hope at La Paris Estate outside Paarl today. Photo: Capcha<\/span><\/p>\nAfter 98km of racing, the Team Telkom rider crossed the line in 2:17:55 to grab the first yellow jersey ahead of RoadCover\u2019s Clint Hendricks and Dimension Data\u2019s Jayde Julius.<\/p>\n
In the women\u2019s race, Time Freight\u2019s Lise Olivier also won in a sprint, crossing the line in 2:44:26 to beat former British road champion Sharon Laws and Ariane Kleinhans of Team Spur-Specialized. <\/p>\n
\u201cMy lead-out was quite solid today,\u201d said Hoffman. \u201cI had HB (Kruger) pulling for me and Reynard (Butler) delivering me with about 300m to go.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe misjudged where the line was and I had to sprint about 100m further, but Reynard did such a great job.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I came off his wheel I was already about five metres ahead. I just had to put my head down and keep powering.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think today is confirmation that the legs are good. I hope we can keep building this week.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 30-year-old from the West Rand, who will be gunning for a hat-trick in the Cape Town Cycle Tour on Sunday, said they immediately identified it as a stage to go for when the route was changed a few days prior to the event.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have two really fast guys in Reynard and myself and we knew the more rolling profile would suit us.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoffman said it was a nervous start and they had to make sure that no big splits went up the road.<\/p>\n After several failed attempts, a group of four \u2013 consisting of Konny Looser and Sam Gaze of Songo.info and Chris Jooste and Kevin Patten of ProTouch \u2013 got away before the second sprint prime.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we lost a bit of concentration halfway through the stage and let the break slip to about two minutes,\u201d said Hoffman. \u201cI panicked a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n He said they were only able to reel in the last escapee \u2013 New Zealand\u2019s Gaze \u2013two kilometres from the end.<\/p>\n \u201cWe definitely had our work cut out for us, but my guys delivered me perfectly. So I\u2019m happy with how things panned out.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/a>Dimension Data\u2019s Jayde Julius (left), Team Telkom\u2019s Nolan Hoffman (centre) and RoadCover\u2019s Clint Hendricks were the top three finishers in the first stage of the Bestmed Tour of Good Hope today. Photo: Capcha<\/span><\/p>\n