30 Nov 2011 2011 Coronation Double Century results
Cape Town Market / Noble Energy has clinched the 2011 Coronation Double Century, beating title holders Daikin-Gu Elites and breaking their three year domination. Second and third places are to be confirmed and are currently under protest. Vodacom C was the first ladies team and Cycle Lab Supercyling were the first mixed team to finish.
Cape Town Market / Noble Energy captain, Hannes van der Walt attributes his team’s success to hard work and team effort. “Our planning worked perfectly today. We started off slowly and when Daikin-Gu caught up with us, we made the decision to go for it. We experienced lots of wind 60km from the finish and we only had seven guys left, which was nerve wracking, but we gave it everything we had and it paid off for us.”
The Charles Milner Award, introduced for the first time this year to encourage entrants to embrace the original ethos of the event, went to those teams who finished with all 12 team cyclists crossing the finish line within 15 minutes of each other. Capestorm Complete Cyclists was the first to cross the finish line. Over 75 teams completed with all twelve participants and were awarded Charles Milner Award medals.
The 19th Coronation Double Century saw 2,300 cyclists and 225 teams participating in the race which started and finished in good race conditions in the scenic town of Swellendam. Johann le Roux of team Hermanus Pharmacy is the only cyclist to have ridden all 19 events.
CEO David Bellairs, who completed the 202km race, thanked the entire team who put this event together. “It was a truly fantastic day out there. Riding with the local Railton development team of riders was a wonderfully rewarding experience, with all four of these riders completing the 202kms for the first time. The look of jubilation when they finished made all the hard work worthwhile.
“This event does so much for profiling the Southern Cape and Overberg region and without the support and can-do attitude of all the role players in the area, events of this nature would simply not be possible. From Robin Carlisle of the Provincial Government of the Western Cape who got behind and supported the event, to provincial and local traffic authorities and SAPS that were out in full force to ensure the safety of both cyclists and motorists, our gratitude and grateful thanks,” he said.
“Completing the Coronation DC requires teamwork, performance and an unwavering focus on the long-term. These are values that our company embraces wholeheartedly and we’re very proud to be the title sponsor of this prestigious event,” says Karl Leinberger, Chief Investment Officer at Coronation Fund Managers.
The Coronation DC continues to grow in popularity each year, enticing many top cyclists to Swellendam and teams have their pick of the crop of cyclists eager to participate. 2011 Winners Cape Town Market/ Noble Energy’s team brought in pro cyclists Jaco Venter and Herman Fouche from Belgium, Northcliff Cycles had Olympian cyclist Chris Froome on their team and Arran Brown rode for Daikin- Gu Elites. The Brothers Sports Elite team was joined by professional rider Johann van Zyl, while Anderson Transport / Star South kept their team entirely local this year with top SA cyclists Luthando Kaka and Lieuwe Boonstra riding for them.
Race Results are as follows:
Racing Men:
1 – Cape Town Market / Noble Energy (05:13:05)
2 – t.b.c. – currently under protest
3 – t.b.c. – currently under protest
Racing Women:
1 – Vodacom C (06:36:09)
2 – Velocity Axis House Ladies (06:52:06)
3 – Agogo Diamonds (06:52:18)
Racing Mixed:
1 – Cycle Lab Supercyling (05:54:21)
2 – Northcliff Cycles (05:57:18)
3 – My Training Day (06:00:02)
Charles Milner Awards (fastest teams in their categories to start and finish with the same 12 riders):
Men : Capestorm Complete Cyclist
Ladies : Coronangels
Mixed : My Training Day