Chris nails the big guns
Christopher Jennings crosses the finishing line at the Berg and Dale Super Classic
Zululand’s South African Junior Road Cycling Champion, Christopher Jennings, had the cycling world in a frenzy after winning the Berg and Dale Super Classic in Krugersdorp on Saturday.
He upstaged the professional teams as he broke away from the country’s top professional riders with a massive 40km of the 97km race remaining and held onto the lead until the end.
This was a memorable early birthday present for the young man, who turns 19 on Friday.
This is Christopher’s first year in the U23 category and he is racing for the Toyota Cycling South Africa Development Academy team.
Lead
The Richards Bay rider was quoted as saying, ‘To be honest didn’t think I’d stay away. ‘I thought someone might ride across to me, but they didn’t.
‘The first time I got given a time gap I had a one minute, 20 second lead.
‘That gave me the motivation to go harder.’
The International Cycling Union (UCI) has introduced a ban on radio communication between riders and their back-up team in 2010 and Christopher said afterwards that the radio ban helped him to victory. ‘Without radios it is a lot more difficult to gather information on breakaways. ‘Today that worked a little in my favour.
Undulating
‘What was also in my favour was that the route was quite undulating with lots of turns, so I was out of sight of the bunch a lot, making it harder for them to focus on the chase.’
The only time Christopher was relayed information about his closest rivals was when his manager Barry Austin drove next to him and informed him he was ahead 45 seconds. ‘That’s when I knew I’d have a good chance of staying away, but I still pushed as hard as possible to make certain. ‘It wasn’t the biggest win of my career, but it was a good confidence boost with the South African champs just three weeks away.’
Last year, Christopher became the first South African junior male to race to victory in a top-rated UCI race after winning the final stage of the Tour de Pays de Vaud in Switzerland.
He leaves South Africa soon to join a professional team in Belgium, but not before taking part in the SA Champs and cracking a bottle of bubbly to celebrate his birthday.