Clean Sweep For Cannondale Factory Racing At FNB Wines2Whales Shiraz

by Press Office | Oct 30, 2023 | Events, Bike, Bike Events & Racing, Sports, Wines2Whales 2023

Cannondale Factory RAcing FNB Wines 2 Whales

Alan Hatherly and Simon Andreassen of Cannondale Factory Racing won their third stage on the trot on Sunday 29 October to claim the FNB Wines2Whales Shiraz race title. Here is what you need to know:

FNB Wines2Whales Shiraz Stage 3

Cannondale Factory Racing won Stage 3, completing a clean sweep of stage victories.
Imbuko Giant A finished second, 3 minutes and 47 seconds behind the winners.
PYGA Euro Steel finished third, completing the general classification podium.

Near gale force winds were howling from the southeast for the stage. These were largely blowing from behind the riders, as they travelled west; but as the route twisted and turned, while the wind gusted and swirled, they were buffeted by cross and headwinds too.

“These were probably the windiest conditions I’ve ever raced in,” noted Hatherly.

“Our plan for today had been to get Simon [Andreassen] into the portage first,” Hatherly explained. “We’d thought he might be the slower of the two of us. But actually, he was faster than me down there!”

The Cannondale Factory Racing team had pushed the pace on the approach to the climb. This splintered the already reduced group to each team chasing separately. “Simon [Andreassen] got away from the group in A to Z and then I saw the opportunity to kick across to him,” Hatherly elaborated. “PYGA Euro Steel were a way behind us when we started the portage but they ran down there unbelievably quickly and essentially closed the gap.”

Meanwhile, Joubert and Felix Stehli were both feeling the effects of the crashes they had endured earlier in the week. The Imbuko Giant team lost nearly 2 minutes to Cannondale Factory Racing by Water Point 2, near the halfway point of the stage. Elysator.ch’s travails were worse, Stehli and Konny Looser were not only at risk of losing their general classification podium place but also of dropping out of the top five overall by the time they reached Idiom Wine Estate.

“The portage is always a concern because you don’t know how your legs are going to react to that run,” Hatherly allowed. “But we both felt good afterwards and could push into the headwind sections. I think the wind made it a very honest race, every team had to push the best pace they could and it allowed the strongest combinations to capitalise.”

Sailing downwind and battling into it, whenever necessary Cannondale Factory Racing stormed to their third stage win of the Shiraz event. Behind them, Philip Buys and Alex Miller rode home to finish second on the day. The PYGA Euro Steel pair were eager to gain every possible second in what they thought was going to be a tight battle for third overall. Little did they know of Stehli’s difficulties further down the trails.

FNB Wines2Whales GC

Cannondale Factory Racing won the general classification, with a final margin of victory of 3 minutes and 59 seconds.
Elysator.ch slipped from third to fifth on the last day.

Joubert and Botha cross the final finish line third, ceding 3 minutes and 47 seconds to the race winners. This took Cannondale Factory Racing’s final margin of victory to 3 minute and 59 seconds. “It was a good three days of close racing,” Botha smiled. “It’s great to test ourselves against world-class riders like Alan [Hatherly] and Simon [Andreassen]. 2023 has been a good year for the team and we can take a lot of confidence from this performance into the off season and into next year.”

Buys and Miller completed the general classification podium places. Each stage of the race got progressively better for the PYGA Euro Steel team and their third position overall was both hard fought and earned. They were followed by Insect Science’ Keagan Bontekoning and Arno du Toit, who themselves improved through the three days. Elysator.chslipped from third to fifth on the last day. Looser had to nurse Stehli through the closing kilometres. The pair finished 11^thon the last stage, but had done enough on the preceding two days to hold off Imbuko Giant B’s Pieter du Toit and Franko van Zyl by just 21 seconds