Desafio da EN4 82km - 29 October 2006

Werner Schofmann closed the 2006 Copa de Ciclismo de Mocambique in true style in the final event of the league.

The weather averaged about 30 deg. And maxed out at about 36 deg. It was hot, windy, North wind registering 20.4Km/hr and fast … real fast was this race. This race brought many surprises. Everyone hoped to finish the season off with a bang.

Race referee started off the 12 competitors at 07:35. Amazingly all the 12 big names in the sport were there to take on the challenge, but there can only be one winner even if everyone is a champion in his own right. The neutral zone was about 6km. The riders rode into a strong head wind. Everyone did their fair share of the work at the front to the best of their ability and form, Wener, James, Paulo, Carlos, Alvaro, Joao Antonio, Jorge, Rui, Richard, Jorge and Imran. The unwritten rule was adhered to. “If you are going to contest a win or a hot spot, then you must get out there and help pull your own weight”.

The first sprint was hotly contested with Werner taking the sprint from Alvaro (Zeca). James, Paulo and Imran fought for third with a bit of body touching that almost saw Paulo and Imran hit the road. Paulo was clearly stronger taking third, James fourth and Imran fifth.

With 20km to go to the next hot spot Alvaro decided to ride away on his own. The chase group kept him within sights in the strong head wind. Alvaro comfortably took the second sprint on his own uncontested. Werner took second, Carlos third, Paulo fourth and James fifth. This second sprint point caused the split in the bunch.

Immediately after the sprint Alvaro got caught and dropped as a strong group of four formed at the front headed by Werner, James, Carlos and Paulo. Meanwhile Imran caught Alvaro and lead a chase. On the slight 3km incline into the third sprint point James got left by the leading group. The two man chase group caught and left James after the sprint point. The third sprint respectively was in the following order Werner, Carlos, Paulo, James, Alvaro and Imran.

The winner of the race was Werner who beat Paulo to the line in 2:27:40. Carlos took third place 5 seconds off. Imran beat Alvaro to sprint for fourth place in 2:31:10. James came in 2:33:00. Rui Ferreira rode a superb race to take 7^th place in 2:35:00. Joao Antonio (Betinho) recovering from malaria came in 8^th in 2:38:17. Bill Osborne 9^th in 2:41:49. Jorge Santos 10^th in 2:44:05.

Most unfortunately Vicente’s chain had a loose pin. He tried to get it fixed before the start, but was unable to do so. He decided to ride until where the chain would take him, but that wasn’t very far.

Werner is the new and final Sprint King walking away with 133pts. The best climber goes to Tim Fair with 180pts. Imran settles with the Time Trial with 276Pts. The winner of the 2006 league after 12 trials and 841.6km is Alvaro Jose Alves with 878pts, Tim Fair 726pts, Werner Schofmann 638pts, James Leggatt 604pts and Imran 589pts.

The league had just about all types of races from flat races, flat cirts, climbing crits, ITT’s, TTT’s, climbing races, elimination crits, long races and short ones just about enough to let you know where your strengths and weaknesses are, and enough time for you to claim the title.

It’s been a wonderful year of cycling and we hope that next year we will be even better. This year Ernst Prinsloo left our group and James Leggatt will be leaving us in December. Both have been valuable to cycling in Mozambique. James was a very dedicated member keeping the group together. He needs to hand down that responsibility to someone just as dedicated as he was otherwise we will wither away very fast. Even when he was not present, he made sure that everyone was well aware of what was happening where and when. THANKS.

We need to scout replacements, to keep the groups number from declining.

See you all at next year’s battle.

The trophies are still being sorted out. Top 3 or 5 in the G.C. and either winner only other categories or top 3. The jerseys are difficult. We may have to look at other alternatives identify the best riders. As soon as I have details about the trophies I would like us all to get together to hand them out.