Tyler Day will be looking to take one back from Herman Fouch\u00e9 when the two meet again at the Emperors Palace Classic, presented by ASG, in Johannesburg on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The Westvaal-BMC rider will be out to level the score after losing to his former Bonitas team-mate in a photo finish at the Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour in March.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s certainly a good race to win because it\u2019s one of the classics,\u201d said Day. \u201cThere are only about five or six of them on the racing calendar.\u201d<\/p>\n
With defending champion Reinardt Janse van Rensburg absent due to overseas racing commitments, Day said he would definitely be going all out to win the 104km road race.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no holding back on Sunday!\u201d<\/p>\n
Team Westvaal-BMC\u2019s Tyler Day (right) is looking for a rematch with Team Bonitas\u2019s Herman Fouch\u00e9 (left) at the Emperors Palace Classic in Johannesburg on Sunday following the narrowest of defeats at the Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour in March. Photo: Cycle Tour Trust<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n The Klerksdorp-based rider certainly seems to be on good form following an early season win at the Macsteel Carnival City Classic and his podium finish in the Cycle Tour.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter the Argus I scaled down quite a bit because there was not much racing, but now I\u2019m focused again for the Emperors Palace Classic.\u201d<\/p>\n He said the autumn race, which this year moved from its traditional February slot, was ideal for his team\u2019s Mzantsi Tour preparations.<\/p>\n With just one climb near the halfway mark that could split the race, the fast and flat course would favour sprinters like him and Fouch\u00e9, said Day.<\/p>\n \u201cThe short uphill drag towards the finish is a bit more in Herman\u2019s favour but with my current racing weight and how things are going, it won\u2019t be too bad for me either.\u201d<\/p>\n He also cited Tasol-GT\u2019s Johann Rabie, whose team is fighting for survival, and Cycle Fit\u2019s 2009 champion Arran Brown as possible danger men.<\/p>\n \u201cArran is getting form again and he usually rides this race. He doesn\u2019t like the longer races but it\u2019s in his valley, so I\u2019m sure he\u2019ll be there.\u201d<\/p>\n Day said the presence of the large World Cycling Centre Africa team could also affect the battle for control of the race. \u201cThey\u2019ve got the numbers, so that could make quite a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n Regarding his rematch with Fouch\u00e9, Day said his insider knowledge of the Bonitas outfit could work to his advantage.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s more or less the same team as last year, so I know exactly what they do and when they do it.\u201d<\/p>\n However, the 23-year-old acknowledged that Fouch\u00e9\u2019s squad was stronger overall compared to his relatively young and inexperienced side.<\/p>\n \u201cMy brother Dusty is the oldest guy in the team and he\u2019s only 24. The rest of the riders are between 17 and 23 years old but I think we can still show them a thing or two.\u201d<\/p>\n Day will be supported by his brother and team-mates Dylan Girdlestone, Donovan Lubbe, Shaun-Nick Bester, Simphiwe Mhlakaza and Nico Theart.<\/p>\n He said he was also aiming to make it a double in the kermesse-style Circuit Spectacular, which takes place around the resort\u2019s central fountain after the road race.<\/p>\n Although Day did not ride the Emperors Palace event last year, he counts a third place in the feature race and a runner-up spot in the criterium among his previous racing credits.<\/p>\n \u201cThe team is really looking forward to the criterium. The road race is a bit more important but the crit is exciting for spectators as they get to see more of the racing and how the tactics work.\u201d<\/p>\n With only one or two other criteriums on the national calendar, Day said it would be a rare opportunity for the public to view this kind of racing.<\/p>\n Some 6 000 participants are anticipated for the weekend festival of cycling, which includes the 20km and 40km mountain bike races on Saturday followed by the ever-popular kiddies\u2019 events and 50km road race on Sunday.<\/p>\n For more information, contact ASG Events on 076 621 1807 or e-mail eventsupport@asgworld.co.za.<\/p>\n For updates, go to Facebook or @emperorsclassic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Tyler Day will be looking to take one back from Herman Fouch\u00e9 when the two meet again at the Emperors Palace Classic, presented by ASG, in Johannesburg on Sunday. The Westvaal-BMC rider will be out to level the score after losing to his former Bonitas team-mate in a photo finish at the Cape Argus Pick […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-21932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-events"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21932","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\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21932"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21932\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21932"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=21932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}