October 2nd was the third and final stage of the Tour of Maputo. The race coincided with the annual visit of the Joburg Cycling Club "Luso Africa", and their desire to revive an old criterium race together with our own race calendar meant the stage was set for an exciting combination. Add to that the fact that the large haul of trophies at the Goba-Siteki race the day before in Swaziland by the Maputo Cycling Club meant that the Swazis wanted some payback, as well as joining in on the fun.
Would Zeca be able to upstage Miguel in the criterium race and take 26 seconds and jump into the lead of the Tour? Would Calvin from Swaziland have fixed his chain in time to make a difference in the bunch sprint. Would Kinha, Mathieu, Patrick, or Mario take the 3rd spot on the podium, seeing as they were separated by mere seconds? Would Thulani manage to make it back-to-back victories? Would Simon lead the race for the first lap? Would the visiting tourists from Joburg be more serious than we've so far given them credit for!? Well, what I can say is that we saw a lot more cyclists popping out of the woodwork than we've come to expect at the Copa races, and we can only hope that this is the beginning of a real cycling revival!
Photos by Albena Todorova and Mario Traversi
Simon thinking of all the beer he should be making (or is that drinking?!)
Isaac "Biopace" Cossa, hand mended after a fall on one of the corners
Chico being paced by one of the young guns
1st place (on the right) Calvin Benelte of Luso Africa Cycling crossing the line, on a lone breakaway
3rd place finisher Kallen Williams with Miguel Duarte taking 4th place
5th and 6th place finishers coming up to the line
Thulani 7th, Mathieu 8th, Kinha 9th and Lars (62 years old) coming in 10th
Patrick taking 13th with Calvin from Swaziland in 14th place
Zeca in 15th, Grichone in 16th and Carlos in 18th spot
Carlos satisfied.. "I beat Mario!"
UCI pre-race safety check for the Juniors race. "Are wooden bikes allowed?!?"
Yanick, it's a bit early to celebrate!
Federico in a sprint to the line, showing good form and asking "Papá, do Cervelo's come in extra-small???"
Alex makes it to the line - note parent in background training to be a triathlete
Post-race recovery food
Our visiting Swaz's, from left - Menzi, Thulani, Calvin and William
Cervelo Fan Club
Adão, Imran's father, handing out Tour of Maputo medal to Sergio Grichone (7th place)
Lars, 6th place, on the podium (again?!?!) - Where is WADA when you need it
Patrick, 5th place, on the podium (again!). Hmm.. what's this Alps Tour stuff and can I get it in a bottle?
Mathieu in 4th place overall, and just 2 seconds behind Kinha!
"Zeca" da Cunha in 2nd place, and 2nd podium in two days
And the winner is... Miguel! Tour of Maputo Podium
More medals?! Carlos Sales, second visit to the podium in two days.
Jeanne, next time we want iPhones as prizes!
Ricky "long time no see" Pinho - Welcome back!
Malaia, our timekeeper, taking "time off" for once
Joao Rodrigues getting his medal
Ricky, the longest comeback story of the year
There were some complaints about lack of helmet, but the impact absorption capabilities of dreads is widely documented in Science Journals...
Betinho with a smile a mile wide
Sono un'italiano!
Yanick getting his medal - following in daddy's footsteps?
Alex getting his medal - is there chocolate in there?!
Podium of the juniors race
Seeing as I'm having trouble getting on the podium, I'm sending the kids up there instead
Blog author in dashing pose - picture by wife
Disclaimer - The race results are not final because someone forgot to bring a stopwatch, the timekeeper was in the race and, well, it was all quite a lot of fun and everyone got caught up in the excitement anyway. No, no, I'm just joking! The official results will be released soon by the race organisers. We hope that this memorial ride/race for Imran Akuji becomes an annual event, and that our cycling club and the Federation can grow from this. A big thank-you to
Luso Africa Cycling Club for coming down and co-organising the event together with the
Federação Moçambicana de Ciclismo. Their support with waterpoints, post-race snacks, prizes, commemorative medals and welcoming the younger generation of cyclists made the event fun for all the family.
