![\"ccs-62657-0-77845200-1413368144.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ccs-62657-0-77845200-1413368144.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nOrganisers of the Bestmed Satellite Classic, presented by ASG Events, will be looking to crown a new champion in the Gauteng road race on Saturday. \/\/ Photo: Jetline Action Photo.<\/span><\/p>\n Smit, who races for the Vini Fantini-Nippo Continental team, will miss out on defending his title due to questions regarding UCI restrictions on his local racing schedule.<\/p>\n According to race director Wynand de Villiers of ASG Events, this paves the way for a new victor to claim the spoils in the 106km feature race.<\/p>\n De Villiers said all of the country\u2019s top pro teams \u2013 including the MTN-Qhubeka feeder team, Europcar, Bonitas and Abantu \u2013 would be represented.<\/p>\n He said Bonitas fast man Herman Fouch\u00e9 was on especially solid form after taking a hat-trick in the recent Bestmed Campus2Campus SuperClassic and would certainly be the rider to watch.<\/p>\n \u201cHerman is going better than I\u2019ve seen him for a long time,\u201d said De Villiers.<\/p>\n \u201cIf his team can hold it together he\u2019ll be hard to beat. There\u2019s a gentle 2km rise to the finish and this suits him very nicely.\u201d<\/p>\n Reigning Cape Town Cycle Tour winner and three-time Amashova champion Nolan Hoffman will also be in the mix but the Abantu sprinter could come unstuck on the decisive four-kilometre Hekpoort climb.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s 20km from the finish and has a seven per cent gradient, so it\u2019s always difficult to call who will eventually win,\u201d said De Villiers.<\/p>\n \u201cA group of climbers usually get a gap on the climb, but the composition of this front group determines whether they work together to the finish, or whether a couple of riders sit back because their teams aren\u2019t happy with the make-up of the group.\u201d<\/p>\n De Villiers said this made for a very interesting road race and one that displayed the chess-like essence of the sport.<\/p>\n \u201cThe conditions on the day also affect the racing. Good weather is predicted but there\u2019s always wind.<\/p>\n \u201cIf it assists the riders it could better possible escapees\u2019 chances of staying away after Hekpoort.\u201d<\/p>\n In the women\u2019s race, De Villiers said the Time Freight-VeloLife and Bestmed-ASG teams looked to be strong contenders.<\/p>\n He said Krugersdorp-based Chan\u00e9 Jonker \u2013 who will be supported by the likes of world veteran time-trial champ Juanita Venter \u2013 was likely to spearhead the attack for Bestmed-ASG.<\/p>\n \u201cThe race takes place on Chane\u2019s training routes, so she will have the advantage of local knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n Time Freight-VeloLife were impressive at last weekend\u2019s Amashova with Kim Le Court and Lise Olivier placing first and second.<\/p>\n Aside from overall honours, the pro field will vie for the sprint prime after 40km and the king of the mountains hotspot on top of Hekpoort.<\/p>\n The programme includes an 80km road race on the Saturday, with the inaugural 20km and 40km Bestmed Satellite Classic mountain bike events taking place on Sunday.<\/p>\n The generous participants had made a R42 000 donation to the Cancer Association of South Africa possible, said De Villiers.<\/p>\n He said the organisation gave R10 from every race entry to Cansa and that entrants had made voluntary donations totalling R11 000 during the online entry process.<\/p>\n \u201cTo create visibility around the fight against cancer, Bestmed and Incolabs are also making sunscreen available at all our ASG events so that riders protect themselves against the damaging effects of the sun.\u201d<\/p>\n For more information, find the event on Facebook<\/a> or follow @Satellite_Class<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With last year\u2019s winner and international cyclist Willie Smit unable to compete, the Bestmed Satellite Classic will be looking to crown a new champion when the race rolls out along the Hartbeeshoek road west of Pretoria on Saturday. Organisers of the Bestmed Satellite Classic, presented by ASG Events, will be looking to crown a new […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":51032,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[2134,523],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-20822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-bestmed-satellite-classic","tag-satellite-classic"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20822","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=20822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20822\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20822"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=20822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}