Having already taken two stages in last month’s Tropicale Amissa Bongo, Frenchman Yohann Gene continued his good run on the continent when he grabbed stage three of the Cell C Tour of South Africa.
The Team Europcar rider blasted home ahead of eleven others, with Johann Rabie (Team Bonitas) and Gregory Habeaux (Veranda's Willems - Accent) closest to him in the gallop. They were 42 seconds ahead of a 33 man chase group.
With Europcar being a sponsor of the race, Gene’s victory and the fourth place of Tony Hurel were important results for the French squad. “We've had quite a lot of bad luck so far in this Tour of South Africa,” said general manager Jean Rene Bernaudeau. “Today Giovanni Bernaudeau crashed, but luckily it was not serious. This success is ample reward for all the hard work done by the guys out there.”
The team had hoped to target the general classification with Anthony Charteau but he crashed out of the race on stage one.
Overnight race leader Kristian House (Rapha Condor-Sharp) finished fifth on the stage and remains at the head of the general classification.
The 171 kilometre stage followed on from Monday’s rest day, and began at the Nelson Mandela Bay stadium. Right away a group went clear, and Tomasz Kiendys (CCC Polstat), Arran Brown (MTN-Qhubeka) and Johan van Zyl (Toyota CSA) built a maximum lead over a peloton led by House’s Rapha Condor team.
Europcar made clear it was targeting the stage when at kilometre 65, it put the hammer down and split the race up into echelons. The breakaway was brought back in the strong winds and 24 riders pushed ahead.
Inside the final ten kilometres, two KOM climbs reared up. Daryl Impey was first of a small group to the top of Military Drive, but they were brought back. The subsequent Valley Road climb saw ten riders clip away, with Rapha Condor – Sharp’s Jonathan Tiernan-Lock (Rapha Condor - Sharp) edging out Impey for the top.
The front group picked up two more and sped to the finish, where Gene grabbed win number three of this season, and stage 1 victor House picked up another yellow jersey. He holds a two minute 22 second lead over Tony Hurel, Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (Burgos 2016 - Castilla y León), David George (360 Life), Impey and seven others.
The 2.2 ranked, seven stage event continues tomorrow with a 153km leg from Bloukrans Bridge to George.
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Cell C Tour of South Africa (2.2), Feb 19 – 26:
February 22, Stage 3: Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium - Summer Strand:
1, Yohann Gene (Team Europcar) 177 kilometres in 4 hours 5 mins 27 secs
2, Johann Rabie (Team Bonitas)
3, Gregory Habeaux (Veranda's Willems - Accent)
4, Tony Hurel (Team Europcar)
5, Kristian House (Rapha Condor - Sharp)
6, Jonathan Tiernan-Lock (Rapha Condor - Sharp)
7, Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (Burgos 2016 - Castilla y León)
8, Thomas Degand (Veranda's Willems - Accent)
9, David George (360, Life)
10, Perrig Quemeneur (Team Europcar)
11, Daryl Impey (MTN Qhubeka)
12, Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (MTN Qhubeka)
13, Christiaan Kriek (Toyota CSA) at 42 secs
14, Herman Fouche (DCM)
15, Alexey Shmidt (Team Type 1 - Sanofi Aventis)
Intermediate sprint at Motherwell:
1, Arran Brown (MTN Qhubeka) 5 pts
2, Johann Van Zyl (Toyota CSA) 3
3, Tomasz Kiendys (CCC Polsat Polkowice) 1
KOM prime at Military Drive (km 165):
1, Daryl Impey (MTN Qhubeka) 10 pts
2, Tony Hurel (Team Europcar) 8
3, Jonathan Tiernan-Lock (Rapha Condor - Sharp) 6
KOM Prime at Valley Road, (km 167):
1, Jonathan Tiernan-Lock (Rapha Condor - Sharp) 10 pts
2, Daryl Impey (MTN Qhubeka) 8
3, Johann Rabie (Team Bonitas) 6
General classification after stage 3:
1, Kristian House (Rapha Condor - Sharp) at 7 hours 47 mins 30 secs
2, Tony Hurel (Team Europcar) at 2 mins 22 secs
3, Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (Burgos 2016 - Castilla y León)
4, David George (360 Life)
5, Daryl Impey (MTN Qhubeka)
6, Jonathan Tiernan-Lock (Rapha Condor – Sharp)
7, Johann Rabie (Team Bonitas)
8, Yohann Gene (Team Europcar)
9, Perrig Quemeneur (Team Europcar)
10, Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (MTN Qhubeka)
11, Thomas Degand (Veranda's Willems – Accent)
12, Herman Fouche (DCM) at 3 mins 4 secs
13, William Dugan (Team Type 1 - Sanofi Aventis)
14, Alex Meenhorst (Team Differdange - Magic-Sportfood.de)
15, Alexey Shmidt (Team Type 1 - Sanofi Aventis)
Points classification:
1, Kristian House (Rapha Condor - Sharp) 19 pts
2, Yohann Gene (Team Europcar) 10
3, Johann Rabie (Team Bonitas) 8
4, Herman Fouche (DCM) 8
5, Milan Kadlec (Czech Republic) 6
6, Gregory Habeaux (Veranda's Willems - Accent) 6
Mountains classification:
1, Daryl Impey (MTN Qhubeka) 24 pts
2, Jonathan Tiernan-Lock (Rapha Condor - Sharp) 16
3, Tony Hurel (Team Europcar) 13
4, Johann Rabie (Team Bonitas) 11
5, Dan Craven (Rapha Condor - Sharp) 8
6, Nathnael Berhane (UCI African Team) 5
Young rider classification:
1, Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (MTN Qhubeka) at 7 hours 49 mins 52 secs
2, Remco Broers (Team Differdange - Magic-Sportfood.de) at 42 secs
3, Kévin Reza (Team Europcar)
4, Christopher Jennings (Burgos 2016 - Castilla y León)
5, Daniel Teklehaimanot (UCI African Team)
African rider classification:
1, Jacques Janse Van Rensburg (Burgos 2016 - Castilla y León) at 7 hours 49 mins 52 secs
2, David George (360, Life)
3, Daryl Impey (MTN Qhubeka)
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Thanks to Xylon van Eyck for contributing to this report