The Classica de Goba cycle race took place on the 29th of May and we had a large field considering the the long race, including 7 Swazi cyclists. Race started at 8am and after warming up the short but steep Boane Hill the pelotong snaked it's way through the quarries and up Pedreira Hill where right away the Swazi cyclists put on the pressure. Not to be outdone the likes of Betinho and Gustavo went after them and controlled the head of the race. On the fast descent to the Goba turn-off a small break of Swazis went ahead, controlled again by Betinho, while the peloton slowly ate into their lead. At the turn a strongish cross-wind made the riding difficult and after a few km another break developed with Thulani, Gustavo and Mario taking turns and opening a gap. However the chasing bunch was not amused and put on some after-burners to reel in the break. Then with a few kms to the Goba climb Thulani and Kinha broke away and maintained a gap all the way to the climb, notwithstanding a valiant but futile attempt by yours truly to bring them back. With no support from the other riders I had to sit up and wait for the gruelling wall that would hit us just after the bridge to Goba. There the climbers showed their legs with everyone powering up the steep section and maintaining into the first bend. A persuit group formed with Matt, Gustavo and Betinho, with Carlos, Mario and Patrick struggling to keep contact and Swazi cyclists Fana and William slowly moving up the field. Meanwhile up ahead Thulani had managed to drop a struggling Kinha who regrouped with the persuit group, now down to Matt and Gustavo. Betinho alas had fired his shots too early and struggled while everyone passed him up the hill. The climb was hard on everyone but eventually Thulani summited first, then the trio of chasers, and finally the reargard action of Carlos, Mario and William who they caught up on the last turn. Mario managed to open a gap in the last 500m and headed down at speed, closely followed by Carlos and then William. The latter two manage to pass yours truly in the steep downhill turns and a support vehicle inappropriately parked in a corner made matters worse, but a pack of goats further down slowed the due enough that Mario could catch them at the bottom of the climb on Goba bridge, just before the first of many rolling hills. By then they could still see the chasing trio of Matt/Kinha/Gustavo whereas Thulani was further up ahead, opening up the lead he'd gained on the climb and subsequent descent. Meanwhile group 3 was joined first by Fana and then by Patrick, who managed to time-trial along the rolling hills to catch the Mario/William group while Carlos instead fell back, his downhill exertions having taken their toll.
The groups basically stayed the same till the finishing line, the only difference being the time gaps that were quite considerable, 4 minutes between group 1 and 2 and 12 minutes between groups 1 and 3! Thulani won by a comfortable margin, the chasing pack hampered by lack of water making up the rest of the podium:
1st Thulani Gule 3:15 |
| 2nd Kinha Fonseca 3:20 |
| 3rd Gustavo Da Silva s.t |
| 4th Matt Singleton s.t. |
| 5th Mario Traversi 3:28 |
| 6th Fana Mentani s.t |
| 7th William Kelly 3:30 |
| 8th Patrick Verissimo s.t |
| 9th Carlos Sales 3:31 |
| 10th Chico Nobrega 3:45 |
Swazi article on the event is available here
Cyclists warming up before the start
Group photo of visitors and residents
Enlarged podium (5 medals)
Yours truly getting his medal
