Janse van Rensburg finally get a big win again
Reinardt Janse van Rensburg’s overall win in the Tour de Langkawi could be the spark to set for his best season as a professional yet.
|||Johannesburg - Reinardt Janse van Rensburg’s overall win in the Tour de Langkawi in Malaysia yesterday could be the spark to set up the Dimension Data rider for his best season as a professional yet.
Janse van Rensburg became the third South African to win the Tour de Langkawi after finishing safely in the bunch during a frantic final sprint in the eighth stage in Melaka. Andrea Guardini (Astana) took the victory.
Janse van Rensburg’s winning margin was just 18 seconds. As it has been a few years since he last won, the 27-year-old celebrated and then looked to the future.
“I am super happy to finally get a big victory again,” he said. “It is my first tour victory since 2012, and first victory since 2013. I need to thank all of my team for working day-in-day-out for me, and making sure I was protected. Now I am really looking forward to starting my European campaign in Tirreno, Milan-San Remo and the rest of the classics.”
Dimension Data controlled the final stage as they had much of the race. Janse van Rensburg grabbed the three bonus seconds on offer at the first intermediate sprint to extend his lead after just 16km. The team then allowed a break to get away up the road, but that was reeled in ahead of the final bunch sprint. The rest of the all-African team shepherded Janse van Rensburg to the front of the group and he safely followed the lead sprinters home.
“It is the first time in the history of the race that a team could defend the victory,” said the team’s sporting director Jens Zemke. Youcef Reguigui of Algeria won for MTN-Qhubeka last year. “For Reinardt it is great because his last win was in 2013, so it is nice for him to get his confidence back and get him on track to being a race winner.”
Dimension Data will now turn their attention to the spring classics, having added riders to their roster with the potential to add to their pivotal victory in the 2013 Milan-San Remo. Then, as MTN-Qhubeka, Gerald Ciolek outwitted Peter Sagan and Fabian Cancellara to grab victory in a race that was hit by freakish weather.
“I’m in really good condition now.” Janse van Rensburg told Cyclingnews.com this week. “I knew I was in good form coming into this race. (The route of the Milan-San Remo) is pretty good for me, but we have got a really strong team with me. When we come to a sprint, we will have a really proper train going.”
The Star