A Free State of Mind...

A free state of mind... and an awesome stage was set for The Tour de Free State UCI 2.1 2012! What a spectacular event and showcase of the best women's cycling SA has ever seen. The organisation and race routes were fantastic, not to mention the excellent prize money and great accommodation! Well done to the event organisers and the Free State for hosting this event which has put SA on the map for women's professional road racing.

Spectacular scenery along the race route

Teams present:

• Team Escentual ForVoiRed RT
• Team Bike Aid
• Team HiTec
• Team RusVelo
• Team DolmansBoels
• Team Lotto Bellisol
• Team Thialand
• Team MTN-Qhubeka
• Team Toyota
• Team Eritrea 

Top four competitors:

• Emma Johansson (Team HiTec) - UCI ranking 3 (Sweden no 1)
• Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (Team Lotto Bellisol) - UCI ranking 35 (South Africa no 1)
• Svetlana Bubnenkova (Team RusVelo) - UCI ranking 36 (Russia no 3)
• Martina Bras (Team DolmansBoels) - UCI ranking 40 (Netherlands no 8)

As you can see by the teams and contenders, this reads like a 'night at the Oscars on the red carpet' in the game of women's cycling, and set the stage for a magnificent spectacle of professional racing! Seventy five participants in total took to the start line.

The tour began in Bloemfontein with the first two stages being fast and flat. The last two stages were set with the magnificent backdrop of Clarens, where the roads tilted upwards into the high mountains next to the Lesotho border.

I was fortunate enough to spend the last two days watching the ladies fight out the final battle, and a battle it was indeed. It was fantastic to witness this high level of women's cycling in our country. The racing is aggressive and positive. Attacks begin on the start line and end on the finish line of each stage. The riders spend the evenings having dinner and chatting amongst one another like old school friends. The camaraderie is noticeably good but the competitiveness is fierce!

I spent the two days with Team Lotto Bellisol. Being Ashleigh's and Jo's coach, I was there to support and watch my athletes race. Unfortunately I did not get the opportunity to watch Jo as she ended up in a bad crash on stage 2 leaving her with a few broken bones in her hand and many roasties. To give you some idea though as to just how tough these girls are, Jo was quoted in hospital as saying,"Please give me something to eat, I have to race tomorrow",... this before she was about to go into surgery to have her cuts cleaned out! Needless to say, she did not have her way, and did not race the following day :)

Team Lotto Bellisol (from left to right) Robyn de Groot, Ashleigh Moolman Pasio, An-Li Pretorius, Ludivine Henrion, Lisa Olivier (missing: Joanna van der Winkel)

 It was superb to however watch Ash in action. As she is based in Europe now, I seldom have this opportunity. It was fantastic to see how she has developed into a world class athlete with a level head, she took each day in her stride, ending off with a stage win on the final day and a third overall in GC (general classification). Her team mates Ludivine Henrion (Belgium), Joanna van der Winkel (SA), Robyn de Groot (SA), Anli Pretorius (SA) and Lisa Olivier (SA) raced with guts and doggid determination. One could see that the European racing has had a huge impact on the standard of racing of these athletes, and if this continues our SA women cyclists will continue to hold their own on the international stage.

Ash, winner of the Africa jersey and third in GC

 Final GC results:

1. Emma Johannson 
2. Hanka Kupfernagel
3. Ashleigh Moolman Pasio

Emma Johansson pops the cork!

Speaking of determination, the tour 'story' would not be complete without mentioning the courageous Sarah Storey, and what a story it is! Sarah has a disability in that she was born without a functioning left hand. Let me tell you, watching her race, you would never believe it. I watched her attack the bunch on the final stage to join Robyn de Groot and the two rode in a breakaway into the final 25km of the race. Unbelievable courage and determination is just remarkable to see in action!

In a breakaway.. Robyn de Groot and Sarah Storey

 Can't wait for Tour de Free State UCI 2.1 2013!