The South African cycling team moved up to third place overall in the team competition after the fourth stage of the Qinghai Lake Tour in China on Wednesday.
The team again got three riders into the deciding move of the day and Jeremy Maartens (HSBC) is still nestled in nicely in joint third spot overall.
Australia’s David McKenzie won the stage (140km at an average of 49kph) ahead of overall leader Gou-Zhang Wang of China.
Wang claimed six bonus seconds for his second place on the stage, which put Maartens 20 seconds behind on the overall classification.
”Jock [Green] is reading the race extremely well,” said the South African team manager, Tony Harding, after Wednesday’s stage.
”We aren’t expending any unnecessary energy. It’s actually uncanny how he has managed to place three of his riders into the move every day. His experience and knowledge is invaluable.”
Green (HSBC) and Eckardt Bergh (Minolta) were up front looking after Maartens on Wednesday.
”We are really still playing the waiting game before Friday’s first deciding stage of the tour. We’re simply making sure Jeremy remains well positioned while also keeping the team high up on the general standings,” said Harding.
Maartens, who is feeling up to the task that await the riders over the weekend, celebrates his 24th birthday on Thursday.
Thursday’s stage is a 170km haul with no real climbs to speak of, but the increased race distance won’t make the going easy at the extreme altitudes in the Chinese Lake region. They are still up at 3 000m above sea level.
”It’s definitely an advantage that all our riders spend their time racing and training in Gauteng. I believe that’s the reason why the altitude isn’t affecting them as adversely as some of the other teams.
”Some good riders have lost 15 to 20 minutes on a stage with their bodies not being up to the challenge at high altitude. Our riders are all coping very well and the team is in high spirits,” said Harding. — Sapa