The Cycle Lab Supercycling 1 team of Andrew McLean and Bruce Diesel stormed to victory on the final stage and in the process claimed the overall title at the 2009 MTN Panorama Cycle Tour in White River, Mpumalanga on Tuesday.

With a 26-second deficit on overnight leaders Jaco Ferreira and Pieter Henning (Team TCS GWM) and 21 seconds on second-placed Moolman Welgemoed and David Garrett (Daikin Gu), McLean and Diesel were immediately in chase mode when they began the undulating 24km time trial.

McLean is a time trial specialist, while Diesel is no slouch against the clock either. The pair blitzed their way through the out-and-back course, which included more than 400 metres of ascent, in a quick time of 38 minutes and 15 seconds.

Second place on the stage went to the Northcliff Cycles team of Alex Pavlov and Henry Uys (38:36) who were the only other team to break the 38-minute mark. Third place went to the MTN Energade Sprinters pair of Juan van Heerden and Danie Marais (39:11).

Overnight leaders, Ferreira and Henning, finished well down on the stage which saw them drop from first to sixth in the final overall standings of the four-day tour, which saw the lead change four times. McLean and Diesel’s final time was 9 hours 10 minutes and 7 seconds. They were 53 seconds clear of Capetonians Welgemoed and Garrett (9:11:00) with the Port Elizabeth Mecer NMMU team of Jade Muller and Conrad Viljoen (9:11:25), rounding out the final overall podium places.

McLean and Diesel also collected the top Veteran team award, while Welgemoed and Garrett secured the Sub-veteran title. Muller and Viljoen were the first Open team overall.

“We only took the lead on the final day, but we were only able to do that because we made sure we were in contention every other day,” explained a satisfied Diesel. “Andrew is incredibly experienced and we drove the final time trial course on Monday and then rode it for our warm-up today. We knew it well and that meant there were no surprises and we could give our all.”

Diesel confirmed that the racing was tight and tough and that the event has now gained credibility as a national tour that everyone would like to win.

“With such a competitive field this year, the race’s status has definitely been raised. There were a lot of top pro’s and retired pro’s and while there was a bit of a social aspect to the event off the bike, it was hard racing on it. It feels good to have beaten that kind of field.”

The MTN Ladies team of Larissa Kleinmann and Lisa Vermaak clocked 46:02 to secure the stage win and the overall women’s title. Second overall and third on Tuesday’s stage were the MTN Club 100 Girl Power pair of Kobie-Marie Hamman and Lylanie Lauwrens, while the MTN Club 100 Entelectuals team of Helen Squirrel and Cashandra Slingerland, the current SA Elite time trial champion, were second on the stage and third in the final standings.

The Mixed category was closely contested with early leaders Graham Cronje and An-Li Pretorius (Liz-An-Lee Auto) taking their third stage win on Tuesday. However, it wasn’t enough to topple Joanna and Tijl van der Winkel (Northcliff Cycles Bring it on) from top position in the final classification.

The Cycle Lab Masters team of Johan Spies and Paul Furbank completed their domination of their category with a fourth consecutive stage win and the overall Master category title, while Jurie and Adolf Krige (Young and Vris) did the same in the Tandem division.

Leading results
Stage 4: 24km time trial
Overall
1 Cycle Lab Supercycling 1 – Bruce Diesel / Andrew McLean 38:15
2 Northcliff Cycles – Alex Pavlov / Henry Uys 38:36
3 MTN Energade Sprinters – Juan van Heerden / Danie Marais 39:11
4 Mecer NMMU – Jade Muller / Conrad Viljoen 39:20
5 Blackrock 1 – Jacques Fullard / Blaine Wickner 39:22
6 Daikin Gu – David Garrett / Moolman Welgemoed 39:29
7 TCS Cough Syrup – Brand du Plessis / Alwyn Scheepers 39:37
8 BH Medscheme – Hanco Kachelhoffer / Mike Hewan 39:42
9 Mr Price KZN – Werner Moolman / Norvyn Pitout 39:47
10 Medscheme – Nicholas White / John O’Connor 39:49

Women
1 MTN Ladies – Larissa Kleinmann / Lisa Vermaak 46:02
2 MTN Club 100 Entelectuals – Helen Squirrel / Cashandra Slingerland 47:14
3 MTN Club 100 Girl Power – Kobie-Marie Hamman / Lylanie Lauwrens 47:38

Mixed
1 Liz-An-Lee Auto – Graham Cronje / An-Li Pretorius 40:33
2 Northcliff Cycles Bring It On – Joanna van der Winkel / Tijl van der Winkel 42:18
3 Comobike – Benedikt Schneider / Sarah Wielopolska 43:03

Open Men
1 Northcliff Cycles – Alex Pavlov / Henry Uys 38:36
2 MTN Energade Sprinters – Juan van Heerden / Danie Marais 39:11
3 Mecer NMMU – Jade Muller / Conrad Viljoen 39:20

Sub-veteran Men (30-39 years)
1 Blackrock 1 – Jacques Fullard / Blaine Wickner 39:22
2 Daikin Gu – David Garrett / Moolman Welgemoed 39:29
3 Mr Price KZN – Werner Moolman / Norvyn Pitout 39:47

Veteran Men (40-49 years)
1 Cycle Lab Supercycling 1 – Bruce Diesel / Andrew McLean 38:15
2 Cycle Lab Supercycling Cape Town – Adrian Einthoven / Gary Marescia 41:56
3 Mr Price Bluff Boys – Randy Walker / Alan Roe 42:56

Master Men (50-years-plus)
1 Cycle Lab Masters – Paul Furbank / Johan Spies 43:46
2 Lion Sands Masters – Siegfried Hamman / Jonathan Swart 44:06
3 Cycle Lab Supercycling – Chris Rossouw / Joe Visser 44:38

Tandem
1 Young and Vris – Jurie Krige / Adolf Krige 40:15
2 Breakthru – Allistair Scott / Damian Murphy 41:21
3 Contract Germiston Wheelers – Simon Davenall / Dean Puntis 44:16

Final General Classification
Overall
1 Cycle Lab Supercycling 1 – Bruce Diesel / Andrew McLean 9:10:07
2 Daikin Gu – David Garrett / Moolman Welgemoed 9:11:00
3 Mecer NMMU – Jade Muller and Conrad Viljoen 9:11:25
4 Northcliff Cycles – Alex Pavlov / Henry Uys 9:12:07
5 TCS Cough Syrup – Brand du Plessis / Alwyn Scheepers 9:12:12
6 TCS GWM – Jaco Ferreira / Pieter Henning 9:12:19
7 Blackrock 1 – Jacques Fullard / Blaine Wickner 9:12:43
8 Slow and Furious – Niewoudt van Lill / Gert Janse van Rensburg 9:13:10
9 BH Medscheme – Hanco Kachelhoffer / Mike Hewan 9:14:44
10 Cycle Lab Brothers – David Labuschagne / Johan Labuschagne 9:15:16

Women
1 MTN Ladies – Larissa Kleinmann / Lisa Vermaak 10:25:55
2 MTN Club 100 Girl Power – Kobie Marie-Hamman, Lylanie Lauwrens 10:50:48
3 MTN Club 100 Entelectuals – Helen Squirrel / Cashandra Slingerland 11:10:17

Mixed
1 Northcliff Cycles Bring It On – Joanna van der Winkel / Tijl van der Winkel 9:32:16
2 Liz-An-Lee Auto – Graham Cronje / An-Li Pretorius 9:32:45
3 Voltex – Pierre Veldtmann / Jade Roberts 9:54:17

Open Men
1 Mecer NMMU – Jade Muller and Conrad Viljoen 9:11:25
2 Northcliff Cycles – Alex Pavlov / Henry Uys 9:12:07
3 TCS Cough Syrup – Brand du Plessis / Alwyn Scheepers 9:12:12

Sub-veteran Men (30-39 years)
1 Daikin Gu – David Garrett / Moolman Welgemoed 9:11:00
2 Blackrock 1 – Jacques Fullard / Blaine Wickner 9:12:43
3 Cycle Lab Brothers – David Labuschagne / Johan Labuschagne 9:15:16

Veteran Men (40-49 years)
1 Cycle Lab Supercycling 1 – Bruce Diesel / Andrew McLean 9:10:07
2 Cycle Lab Supercycling Cape Town – Adrian Einthoven / Gary Marescia 9:31:55
3 B.O.S.S Logistics Super Vets – Keith Litten / Stanley Rourke 9:56:07

Master Men (50-years-plus)
1 Cycle Lab Masters – Paul Furbank / Johan Spies 9:38:12
2 Cycle Lab Supercycling – Chris Rossouw / Joe Visser 10:05:34
3 Lion Sands Masters – Siegfried Hamman / Jonathan Swart 10:29:19

Tandem
1 Young and Vris – Jurie Krige / Adolf Krige 9:40:24
2 Breakthru – Allistair Scott / Damian Murphy 10:08:52
3 Contract Germiston Wheelers – Simon Davenall / Dean Puntis 10:29:37