{"id":18759,"date":"2016-02-07T16:05:00","date_gmt":"2016-02-07T16:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/2016\/02\/07\/basson-surges-to-berge-en-dale-victory-r4103\/"},"modified":"2023-02-08T08:43:22","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T08:43:22","slug":"basson-surges-to-berge-en-dale-victory-r4103","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/basson-surges-to-berge-en-dale-victory-r4103\/","title":{"rendered":"Basson surges to Berge en Dale victory"},"content":{"rendered":"

Team RoadCover\u2019s young all-rounder Gustav Basson won the 106km Rudy Project Berge en Dale cycling classic with a formidable solo effort in Krugersdorp this morning.<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-59446100-1454861187.jpg\"<\/a>Team RoadCover\u2019s Gustav Basson won the 106km Rudy Project Berge en Dale cycling classic in Krugersdorp this morning. Photo: Rika Joubert<\/span><\/p>\n

The former U19 national time-trial champion showed his skills against the clock when he escaped late in the race from a five-man breakaway group \u2013 which included teammates Clint Hendricks and Kent Main \u2013 to take a comfortable win at Cradlestone Shopping Mall.<\/p>\n

With the onus on the other teams to pull him back, his move paved the way for a podium lock-out by the team. Basson crossed the line in 2:34:59 with Hendricks (2:35:09) and Bradley Potgieter (2:35:10) second and third.<\/p>\n

Basson said everyone was already on the limit on the first climb out of Krugersdorp and then Main attacked towards the top. \u201cClint went with him straight away and then I decided to ride over as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-69236700-1454861210.jpg\"<\/a>Team RoadCover locked out the podium in the 106km Rudy Project Berge en Dale cycling classic that took place in Krugersdorp today. From left are Clint Hendricks (second), Gustav Basson (first) and Bradley Potgieter (third). Photo: Rika Joubert<\/span><\/p>\n

The RoadCover riders were joined by former champion Calvin Beneke and JC Nel to complete the breakaway group at the head of affairs. \u201cWe built a two-minute gap and then Kent got away in the cradle after about 75km,\u201d said Basson.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe caught him just before he exited the cradle and I immediately went with a flyer to keep the pressure on the other two. Fortunately they couldn\u2019t catch me and I stayed away.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew they had spent a lot of tickets to catch Kent, so I felt I had a chance. I still had a lot of power and didn\u2019t feel like I was about to bonk and that gave me confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-08115400-1454861196.jpg\"<\/a>Clint Hendricks (right) of Team RoadCover in action during the first leg of the ProTouch National Criterium Series, presented by Liberty, that took place at Silverstar Casino in Krugersdorp today. Photo: Rika Joubert<\/span><\/p>\n

Basson, who divides his time between Pretoria and Middelburg, said he was \u201cpretty stoked\u201d with his first elite victory. \u201cIt is a great result for the team and everyone involved.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he felt strong in team training and thought he had a shot if everything went is way. \u201cMy form is better than last year this time, but it is always difficult as it comes down to whatever is best for the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was the 19-year-old\u2019s first elite victory and he will take a lot of confidence into next week\u2019s national road championships, where he is aiming for podiums in the U23 time-trial and road race.<\/p>\n

But he sees the five-day international Bestmed Tour of Good Hope at the end of the month as his main target en route to establishing himself as a tour rider. \u201cI was sixth on GC last year and I think a podium or win is possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-59369400-1454861202.jpg\"<\/a>Team Time Freight\u2019s Kim Le Court won the 106km Rudy Project Berge en Dale cycling classic in Krugersdorp this morning. Photo: Rika Joubert<\/span><\/p>\n

The women\u2019s race was won by Team Time Freight\u2019s Kim Le Court (3:03:11) with Clover\u2019s Carla Oberholzer (3:03:12) and Time Freight\u2019s Lise Olivier (3:03:13) completing the podium.<\/p>\n

Hendricks turned a good day for RoadCover into a great one when he won the first leg of the inaugural ProTouch National Criterium Series, presented by Liberty, at Silverstar Casino directly after the road race. The women\u2019s event was won by Madelaine Snoer.<\/p>\n

Visit www.asgevents.co.za for more info or find updates on Facebook and Twitter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Team RoadCover\u2019s young all-rounder Gustav Basson won the 106km Rudy Project Berge en Dale cycling classic with a formidable solo effort in Krugersdorp this morning. Team RoadCover\u2019s Gustav Basson won the 106km Rudy Project Berge en Dale cycling classic in Krugersdorp this morning. Photo: Rika Joubert The former U19 national time-trial champion showed his skills […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":44591,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[743,662],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-18759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-berge-en-dale","tag-gustav-basson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18759"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18759\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18759"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=18759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}