South African Robert Hunter brought Team Barloworld continued his winning ways with an impressive victory in the 110km first stage of the Giro del Capo from Wellington-Wellington. Hunter won the bunch sprint with Christoff van Heerden (MTN) and Johann Rabie (Neotel) coming in second and third.
The first stage of the four day event was effected by strong winds making it a hard day. Team Barloworld put four riders in the first breakaway of about 41 riders that included Daryl Impey, Felix Cardenas, Robert Hunter and Steven Cummings. The team worked to get to bring Hunter to the front of the group for the climb.
About 64km into the race, an unfortunate incident caused John-Lee Augustyn to crash and withdrawal from the race. “I was extremely disappointed by the crash – I was so ready for the climb. When I fell it was so hard, I thought I had broken my hip!” said a frustrated Augustyn.
With just 30km to go to the finish line there was a breakaway of 5 riders that was swallowed by the main group in the last kilometer of the race. Barloworld’s Daryl Impey and Steven Cummings delivered their sprinter to the line perfectly for the win.
Having another victory under their belt, Barloworld looks to improve their stance as a wildcard pick for the big races coming up.
Claudio Corti , Team Barloworld Manager commented, “The team did so well. I am very happy with the team’s performance today. The strong wind made us change our strategy, but the team pulled together well to deliver such a great result. They are in good condition and knew what had to be done. By working together to control the breakaway and attack, we achieved the desired result and our goal to do well on our sponsors home soil. Unfortunately Augustyn crashed during the race and we will need to assess the injury before we can make any decisions.”
The 143km Stage 2 leaves from Durbanville tomorrow and has 3 categorized climbs.