Current South African road cycling champion Malcolm Lange continued to fine-tune his form in preparation of the defence of his Elite national title in East London next month when he won the Maluti Challenge in Bethlehem at the weekend.
The seasoned MTN Energade professional outsprinted a strong field to collect victory in one of the country’s most under-rated events, which takes in the rolling terrain of the eastern Free State over a testing, 124km route. It was the second win in successive races for Lange (34), who also won the 150km Vasbyt Challenge in Pretoria last weekend.
”My form has actually been good for a while now. I was strong at the Giro del Capo and got third at the Argus, which is not bad going for an old guy like me,” smiled Lange. ”The win today and last weekend are nice for the confidence, but I’ve been putting in some big mileage training weeks, so it’s paying off nicely.”
At the Maluti Challenge, Lange’s MTN Energade teammates helped him whittle the field down by setting a fast pace up Surrender Hill, the race’s signature climb about 40km from the finish.
”The bunch was down to about 30 after that and I felt it was still too big, so we put in a series of attacks and that helped get the final five-man break clear,” explained Lange.
Joining Lange in the final move was his MTN Energade teammate Ian McLeod; Hanko Kachelhoffer and Arran Brown (both House of Paint); and Jaco Venter (Neotel). Lange unleashed his now legendary final kick to cross the finish line in a relatively quick time of 2:55:33 (42,4km/h average). Brown was second, followed by Venter, McLeod and Kachelhoffer respectively.
A protest afterwards by Brown’s House of Paint team was lodged, alleging Lange had ”switched” Brown in the gallop for the line. But a review of the finish video confirmed that Lange’s drift was gradual and legitimate.
”I did drift slightly, but I certainly didn’t connect with or obstruct anyone,” explained Lange. ”The wind was blowing from the right and I was really just finding the most sheltered line to the finish.”
Lange complimented the House of Paint team, a new professional team based in KwaZulu-Natal. ”They’re riding very well, still young and inexperienced, but they have some talented riders and have had some good results this year. They just need to try to be more aggressive during the races and not rely on the other teams to make the racing.” — Sapa