![\"ccs-62657-0-98443900-1436857343.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ccs-62657-0-98443900-1436857343-1.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>JC Nel will have his sights set on the win in the inaugural three-day Bestmed Jock Tour, which starts in Nelspruit (Mbombela) on Friday. Nel won last year\u2019s Bestmed Jock Cycle Classique, the one-day alternative, which takes place again on Saturday. Photo: Jetline Action Photo<\/span>\n<\/div>\nWith the country\u2019s cycling stars now opting to tough it out in the longer tour, Nel could be the last pro rider to have won SA\u2019s oldest and toughest one-day stage race.<\/p>\n
\u201cWinning the Classique last year was a dream come true and it\u2019s definitely something that I\u2019ll look back on in a couple of years and be glad about,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut there are guys, like Dylan Girdlestone, who\u2019ve won it a couple of times in a row and I won\u2019t get the chance to do that now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Instead, Nel will be in line for a different double if he can notch up victory in the inaugural tour.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d definitely like that!\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The 23-year-old all-rounder said the mountainous tour, which ascends over 7 200m, was just the kind of event the pro teams had been waiting for.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe pros have been looking for a race that really challenges your smaller built guys, the ones who can really go uphill, because we don\u2019t have a lot of those on the calendar.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is now a real target for a lot of the climbers. For myself, this is a race I\u2019d really like to do very well in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nel was second overall in the Bestmed Tour of Good Hope (formerly the Tour de Boland) and also the fastest South African in the individual time-trial stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Jock Tour plays to my strengths even more because it starts with a hill climb time-trial, and the climbs on the two road stages are a lot longer down in Nelspruit.<\/p>\n
He said only the toughest would survive the Jock.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn other tours there\u2019s a lot of recovery time in between, whereas here, if you get dropped on the climbs, it\u2019s going to be a long hard day for you to get back again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nel named Team EuropcarSA rivals Willie Smit and Nic Dlamini as riders to watch.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Willie\u2019s on really good form and he goes well at this race.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nel will have a score to settle with Smit, who just bested him in their last major skirmish \u2013 the Kremetart stage race at the end of June.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt both the Jock and Clover Tour last year I was first and Willie was second.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I think there\u2019s definitely a ding-dong battle going on here. I hope it\u2019s a good one.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Johannesburg resident said Nelspruit locals and former roadies turned mountain bikers Nico Bell and Gawie Combrinck could also set the cat among the pigeons in the peloton.<\/p>\n
\u201cEspecially because they\u2019re marathon racers, they can just grind it all day and keep going and going.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember at last year\u2019s Clover Tour, which also takes place in the Lowveld, they made it tough for us on a couple of stages.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nel said having a strong team behind him would help to nullify such attacks and make his job easier.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour teammates play a bigger part than many people understand. If you know that you don\u2019t have to chase everything and you can depend on them, it just takes so much pressure off.\u201d<\/p>\n
The tour starts with a 27km individual time-trial from Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit to Kaapsehoop.<\/p>\n
Saturday\u2019s 140km second stage follows an out-and-back route from Nelspruit to Sabie, White River and back.<\/p>\n
The tour wraps up with a 132km stage via Kaapmuiden and Barberton before returning to Nelspruit.<\/p>\n
The traditional three-stage 154km Bestmed Jock Cycle Classique \u2013 which is also the race for the junior and women\u2019s pro teams \u2013 will take place on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Follow the action @jockcycle<\/a> or find Jock Cycle Classique on Facebook. Alternatively, find www.thejock.co.za<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Defending Bestmed Jock Cycle Classique champion JC Nel will be aiming to write his name in the history books when the new three-day Bestmed Jock Tour rolls out of Nelspruit (Mbombela) in Mpumalanga on Friday. Nel, who races in the colours of Bonitas, will head a powerful elite field that features all of South Africa\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":56731,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[3811,2500],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-19654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-bestmed-jock-cycle-classique","tag-jc-nel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19654","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=19654"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19654\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19654"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=19654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}