DCM Ready To Take on Tour De Vino

Press Release : News Center

How to beat Malcolm Lange (Medscheme) and Arran Brown (Medscheme) is the dilemma that the riders of the DCM road cycling team will have to face on Sunday during the Medscheme Tour de Vino that will take place in and around Franschhoek.

Lange and Brown are at the moment the ‘terrible twins’ of sprinting.  The two of them dominated the cycling scene during the past 12 weeks.  If Lange did not win the sprint to the finishing line, it was Brown who accelerated at exactly the right moment to claim victory.

What makes them so good as a combination is the fact that Lange and Brown complement each other as sprinters. Brown loves to create a long sprint and he already begins to accelerate at about 300 meters from the finishing line.  While Brown is at full speed, Lange just sits on, waiting for his rivals to waste their energy chasing Brown.

The moment Brown is caught, Lange sets off like a bolt of lightning and then it is usually ‘game over’, because the other professional teams do not enjoy the privilege of having two top sprinters in their teams.

This is why Jacques Janse van Rensburg (DCM) makes it clear that his team-mates (Jaco Venter, Clinton Barrow, Pieter Seyffert and Stefano Mariano) will do everything in their power to prevent the Tour de Vino from finishing in a bunch sprint.

“That is basically the only chance we have of winning the race. It is a pity that the organizers have decided not to let the race finish at the Franschhoek Pass as was originally planned.

“As far as I know, the race will finish in Franschhoek area where the hotspot for the Giro del Capo usually is. This means that, if there is no breakaway during the race, a sprinter will win.

“I have heard that it will be quite windy on Sunday. I hope my information is correct, because then we can use the wind as our ally against the Medscheme riders.  Pieter and I have trained really hard during the past few weeks and I think we are quite strong at the moment. In the right windy conditions we will be able to ‘throw a gutter’ in an effort to make it as difficult as possible for the Medscheme riders.”

Jaco Venter might prove to be DCM’s secret weapon, although Venter himself is not sure in what form he will be on Sunday.

“I have taken a break and only started training again last week. So it will be interesting to see with what legs I will arrive at the race.”

If Venter is in good form, he might be able to win the bunch sprint, provided that it is a small group of riders.