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12th Giro del Capo - 2.5
South Africa, March 11-15, 2003
Stage 1 - March 11: Durbanville - Durbanville, 132 km
Little Lill comes ahead of veteran Heppner
By Jean-Francois Quenet in Durbanville
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Darren Lill, a lightly built 20 year old South African from the division III team HSBC, has claimed stage 1 in the Giro del Capo ahead of German veteran Jens Heppner, now riding for Team Wiesenhof. The former Team Telekom captain was close to taking the pink jersey again, as the same colour that he wore for 12 days in last year's Giro d'Italia is also used for the leader's jersey in the Giro del Capo, the only South African UCI stage race. The Giro del Capo was named after the Italian grand tour when it was created 12 years ago by the organisers of the Cape Argus Cycle Tour, who wanted to give a European flavour to African cycling.
"This is my third time riding the Giro del Capo," Lill explained after his win. "I felt the first stage today was more challenging than last year's. I was happy that I made the small group to the finish, then I won because I like sprinting from a small bunch. I'm confident now for the up and coming stages. It's going to motivate me to wear the jersey. The plan was to have someone from HSBC up the road all day and Jock Green did a fantastic job. He made the other teams expose themselves."
The bunch split on the second big climb of the day, so when Green got caught after 105 kilometres in front with only 15 km to go, the main bunch was made up of no more than 23 riders. It included five from Team Wiesenhof, which was setting up the sprint for Enrico Poitschke. Wiesenhof also had Under 23 Paris-Roubaix winner Eric Baumann who was looking really strong, but when four of them crashed together with 1 km to go, the sprint was pretty disorganised.
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Behind Lill and Heppner, came Mattias Carlsson. The Swedish rider is a new signing for Team Ringerike (ex-Team Krone). "This is a fantastic way for us to start our second season," said directeur sportif Øyvind Lillehagen. He didn't expect his Scandinavian riders to do so well coming from a cold climate and racing under the strong African sun.
In fourth place was defending champion David George, who was also happy with his result. "It's a perfect position because I didn't want to get the leader's jersey too early", the Cape Town native explained. The two other climbers from Team Barloworld, Tiaan Kannemeyer and Jaco Odendaal, were also in the front group.
The Giro del Capo finishes on Saturday with a hilly time trial but the riders will have to overcome many more before that.
Photography
Images by Jean-Francois Quenet
- Matthias Carlsson (Ringerike) warms up in the sun before the stage of the first stage
- South African champion Tiaan Kannemeyer before the start
- David George (Barloworld) is the hot favourite for the Giro del Capo
- Team Barloworld's coach Graeme McCallum educates' David George...
- Stage 1 winner Darren Lill (HSBC) during the post race interviews
- The podium (L to R): Darren Lill (1st), Jens Heppner (2nd) and Matthias Carlsson (3rd)
Results
1 Darren Lill (RSA) HSBC 3.33.22 2 Jens Heppner (Ger) Wiesenhof Leipzig 3 Mattias Carlsson (Swe) Team Ringerike 4 David George (RSA) Barloworld 5 Eckard Bergh (RSA) Minolta 6 Adrian Maaske (RSA) Minolta 7 Martin Laciak (Cze) e'Dsystem-ZVVZ 8 Tiaan Kannemeyer (RSA) Barloworld 0.04 9 Mannie Heymans (RSA) Eyeperoptics/Queens 10 Jonathan Dayus (GBr) Team Ringerike 0.11 11 Ian McLeod (RSA) HSBC 0.14 12 Enrico Poitschke (Ger) Wiesenhof Leipzig 13 Adrian Ilsley (RSA) Minolta 14 Morné Bester (RSA) Microsoft 15 Jock Green (RSA) HSBC 0.20 16 Jeremy Maartens (RSA) HSBC 0.25 17 Luke Roberts (Aus) Comnet-Senges 0.29 18 Jaco Odendaal (RSA) Barloworld 0.42 19 Eric Baumann (Ger) Wiesenhof Leipzig 0.59 20 Thomas Ziegler (Ger) Wiesenhof Leipzig 21 Michal Precechtel (Cze) e'Dsystem-ZVVZ 22 Lubor Tesar (Cze) e'Dsystem-ZVVZ 1.24 23 Martin Müller (Ger) Wiesenhof Leipzig 1.26 24 Eric Furstenburg (RSA) Eyeperoptics/Queens 4.11 25 Frank Dressler (Ger) Comnet-Senges 4.30 26 Gabriel Rasch (Nor) Team Ringerike 27 Henry Uys (RSA) Calcium-Hexal Panda 28 Wesley Cole (RSA) CSC/CVT 6.24 29 Chris Willemse (RSA) Chris Willemse Cycles 30 Darryl Impey (RSA) Microsoft 31 Wolfgang Owczarek (Ger) Lamonta 32 Craig Butland (RSA) BOE/Italian Connection 33 Jacques Goosen (RSA) CSC/CVT 34 Alastair Andrews (RSA) SA Development 35 Paul Minnaar (RSA) BOE/Italian Connection 36 Konrad Siebrits (RSA) Chris Willemse Cycles 37 Hans-Jurgen Juratzek (Ger) Comnet-Senges 38 Daniel Meinke (Ger) Comnet-Senges 39 Reinhardt du Plessis (RSA) Minolta 40 Alex Galvin (RSA) Minolta 41 Mark Wilcox (RSA) CSC/CVT 42 Travis Allen (RSA) Calcium-Hexal Panda 43 Douglas Ryder (RSA) Microsoft 44 Johan van der Berg (RSA) Microsoft 45 Chris Esch (RSA) CSC/CVT 46 Daniel Spence (RSA) HSBC 47 Marcel Gono (Aus) e'Dsystem-ZVVZ 48 Simon Kessler (RSA) Microsoft 49 Bjorn Glasner (Ger) Lamonta 50 Armin Kroniger (Ger) Lamonta 51 Anton van der Merwe (RSA) BOE/Italian Connection 52 Lars Breiseth (Nor) Team Ringerike 53 Willie van Zyl (RSA) Eyeperoptics/Queens 54 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Team Ringerike 6.38 55 Sylvain Calzati (Fra) Barloworld 56 Eric Berthou (Fra) Barloworld 57 Martin Pieterse (RSA) Calcium-Hexal Panda 7.06 58 Kevin Evans (RSA) Vineyard Hotel/Breitling 9.00 59 Brian Loff (RSA) SA Development 60 Geddan Ruddock (RSA) Vineyard Hotel/Breitling 61 Alexander Milner (RSA) Sub 3 9.05 62 Claude Roestoff (RSA) SA Development 63 JP Fourie (RSA) HAV Carpets 64 Graeme Cronjé (RSA) Calcium-Hexal Panda 9.12 65 Neil Timm (RSA) BOE/Italian Connection 66 Lourens Calitz (RSA) Sub 3 67 Steve Sergeant (RSA) Vineyard Hotel/Breitling 68 Sebastian Drenker (Ger) Lamonta 69 Dirk Vobbe (RSA) Vineyard Hotel/Breitling 70 Verdi Farao (RSA) SA Development 15.14 71 Robbie Rodrigues (RSA) BOE/Italian Connection 72 Simon Brown (RSA) CSC/CVT 15.20 73 Philip Schoeman (RSA) Sub 3 15.25 74 Jean-Claude Pretorius (RSA) Chris Willemse Cycle 15.28 75 Jaco Ferreira (RSA) Eyeperoptics/Queens 76 Charl Van Wyk (RSA) Sub 3 77 Rupert Rheeder (RSA) Eyeperoptics/Queens 78 Pierre-Henri Olivier (RSA) Sub 3 79 Wayne du Randt (RSA) Calcium-Hexal Panda 26.46 80 Bradley Smith (RSA) SA Development 81 Thaabit Price (RSA) Chris Willemse Cycles 27.30 82 Gareth Rawson (RSA) HAV Carpets 29.25 83 JC Jooste (RSA) HAV Carpets 84 Marco van Dommelen (RSA) HAV Carpets General classification after stage 1 1 Darren Lill (RSA) HSBC 3.33.12 2 Jens Heppner (Ger) Wiesenhof Leipzig 0.04 3 Mattias Carlsson (Swe) Team Ringerike 0.06 4 David George (RSA) Barloworld 0.10 5 Eckard Bergh (RSA) Minolta 6 Adrian Maaske (RSA) Minolta 7 Martin Laciak (Cze) e'Dsystem-ZVVZ 8 Tiaan Kannemeyer (RSA) Barloworld 0.14 9 Mannie Heymans (RSA) Eyeperoptics/Queens 10 Jonathan Dayus (GBr) Team Ringerike 0.21 11 Morné Bester (RSA) Microsoft 0.23 12 Ian McLeod (RSA) HSBC 0.24 13 Enrico Poitschke (Ger) Wiesenhof Leipzig 14 Adrian Ilsley (RSA) Minolta 15 Jock Green (RSA) HSBC 16 Jeremy Maartens (RSA) HSBC 0.35 17 Luke Roberts (Aus) Comnet-Senges 0.39 18 Jaco Odendaal (RSA) Barloworld 0.52 19 Eric Baumann (Ger) Wiesenhof Leipzig 1.07 20 Thomas Ziegler (Ger) Wiesenhof Leipzig 1.09 21 Michal Precechtel (Cze) e'Dsystem-ZVVZ 22 Lubor Tesar (Cze) e'Dsystem-ZVVZ 1.34 23 Martin Müller (Ger) Wiesenhof Leipzig 1.36 24 Eric Furstenburg (RSA) Eyeperoptics/Queens 4.21 25 Frank Dressler (Ger) Comnet-Senges 4.40 26 Gabriel Rasch (Nor) Team Ringerike 27 Henry Uys (RSA) Calcium-Hexal Panda 28 Johan van der Berg (RSA) Microsoft 6.33 29 Wesley Cole (RSA) CSC/CVT 6.34 30 Chris Willemse (RSA) Chris Willemse Cycles 31 Darryl Impey (RSA) Microsoft 32 Wolfgang Owczarek (Ger) Lamonta 33 Craig Butland (RSA) BOE/Italian Connection 34 Jacques Goosen (RSA) CSC/CVT 35 Alastair Andrews (RSA) SA Development 36 Paul Minnaar (RSA) BOE/Italian Connection 37 Konrad Siebrits (RSA) Chris Willemse Cycles 38 Hans-Jurgen Juratzek (Ger) Comnet-Senges 39 Daniel Meinke (Ger) Comnet-Senges 40 Reinhardt du Plessis (RSA) Minolta 41 Alex Galvin (RSA) Minolta 42 Mark Wilcox (RSA) CSC/CVT 43 Travis Allen (RSA) Calcium-Hexal Panda 44 Douglas Ryder (RSA) Microsoft 45 Chris Esch (RSA) CSC/CVT 46 Daniel Spence (RSA) HSBC 47 Marcel Gono (Aus) e'Dsystem-ZVVZ 48 Simon Kessler (RSA) Microsoft 49 Bjorn Glasner (Ger) Lamonta 50 Armin Kroniger (Ger) Lamonta 51 Anton van der Merwe (RSA) BOE/Italian Connection 52 Lars Breiseth (Nor) Team Ringerike 53 Willie van Zyl (RSA) Eyeperoptics/Queens 54 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Team Ringerike 6.48 55 Sylvain Calzati (Fra) Barloworld 56 Eric Berthou (Fra) Barloworld 57 Martin Pieterse (RSA) Calcium-Hexal Panda 7.16 58 Kevin Evans (RSA) Vineyard Hotel/Breitling 9.10 59 Brian Loff (RSA) SA Development 60 Geddan Ruddock (RSA) Vineyard Hotel/Breitling 61 Alexander Milner (RSA) Sub 3 9.15 62 Claude Roestoff (RSA) SA Development 63 JP Fourie (RSA) HAV Carpets 64 Graeme Cronjé (RSA) Calcium-Hexal Panda 9.22 65 Neil Timm (RSA) BOE/Italian Connection 66 Lourens Calitz (RSA) Sub 3 67 Steve Sergeant (RSA) Vineyard Hotel/Breitling 68 Sebastian Drenker (Ger) Lamonta 69 Dirk Vobbe (RSA) Vineyard Hotel/Breitling 70 Robbie Rodrigues (RSA) BOE/Italian Connection 15.24 71 Simon Brown (RSA) CSC/CVT 15.30 72 Philip Schoeman (RSA) Sub 3 15.35 73 Pierre-Henri Olivier (RSA) Sub 3 15.36 74 Jean-Claude Pretorius (RSA) Chris Willemse Cycles 15.38 75 Jaco Ferreira (RSA) Eyeperoptics/Queens 76 Charl Van Wyk (RSA) Sub 3 77 Rupert Rheeder (RSA) Eyeperoptics/Queens 78 Verdi Farao (RSA) SA Development 15.44 79 Wayne du Randt (RSA) Calcium-Hexal Panda 26.56 80 Bradley Smith (RSA) SA Development 81 Thaabit Price (RSA) Chris Willemse Cycles 27.40 82 Gareth Rawson (RSA) HAV Carpets 29.35 83 JC Jooste (RSA) HAV Carpets 84 Marco van Dommelen (RSA) HAV Carpets Points classification 1 Darren Lill (RSA) HSBC 10 pts 2 Jens Heppner (Ger) Wiesenhof Leipzig 6 3 Jock Green (RSA) HSBC 6 4 Mattias Carlsson (Swe) Team Ringerike 4 5 Eric Baumann (Ger) Wiesenhof Leipzig 2 6 Pierre-Henri Olivier (RSA) Sub 3 2 7 Johan van der Berg (RSA) Microsoft 1 8 Morné Bester (RSA) Microsoft 1 Mountains classification 1 Jock Green (RSA) HSBC 16 pts 2 Jeremy Maartens (RSA) HSBC 9 3 David George (RSA) Barloworld 8 4 Pierre-Henri Olivier (RSA) Sub 3 6 5 Jaco Odendaal (RSA) Barloworld 5 6 Adrian Ilsley (RSA) Minolta 4 7 Tiaan Kannemeyer (RSA) Barloworld 3 8 Ian McLeod (RSA) HSBC 1 Teams classification 1 Minolta 10.40.20 2 HSBC 0.20 3 Barloworld 0.32 4 Wiesenhof Leipzig 0.59 5 eD'System-ZVVZ 2.09 6 Ringerike 4.27 7 Eyeperoptics/Queens 10.25 8 Comnet-Senges 11.09 9 Microsoft 12.48 10 Calcium-Hexal Panda 17.46 11 BOE-Italian 18.58 12 CVT 13 Lamonta 14 SACF Developement 24.15 15 Vineyard Hotel/Breitling 26.58 16 Chris Willemse 28.02 17 Sub 3 33.28 18 HAV Carpets 1.07.41
