MONDAY, 1.30PM
THE South African cycling team that will return home from Malaysia on Wednesday can boast that they are one of the most successful combinations ever to compete internationally.
Thanks to Andrew McLean, who survived a potentially disastrous mechanical problem on the last stage of the Tour de Lankawi on Sunday, the South Africans finished third overall, with Douglas Ryder becoming the first South African to win a major tour competition.
Ryder wore the King of the Mountains jersey at the final ceremony, with McLean coming in at number three. Ryder admitted that the team’s performance had exceeded all expectations.
McLean had to contend with a chain link that threatened to break, and which caused his gears not to shift into the sprocket properly, but hung on to place his team in a vastly better position than last year.
McLean was optimistic about the team’s form, saying: “I think we must rate with Denmark as one of the top national teams in the world now.”