ProTouch kick off Morocco with two podium placings
With the team instruction being to stay calm and relaxed, everyone was surprised when Jaydé, Clint and a Moroccan rider rode off to the front.
The ProTouch Cycling team is currently in Morocco, where they are competing in the Challenge International du Prince Heritier Moulay El Hassan, and has already bagged two victories in the first race on Monday, 22 July.
Jaydé Julius took first place, while teammate Clint Hendricks finished second, having spent over 120km of the 155km race in the break.
The race strategy was discussed with the team prior to the race, and after the recent difficult stint in Europe, ProTouch knew that the initial suffering would pay off far sooner rather than later.
With the heat and the fast pace as well as the wind, it wasn’t long before the race started to break up. The initial break of 16 riders (with four ProTouch Continental riders) soon started getting smaller.
With the team instruction being to stay calm and relaxed, everyone was surprised when Jaydé, Clint and a Moroccan rider rode off to the front.
Calvin Beneke was left in the second chasing group, where his job was to act as the policeman and, if he was required to roll through (in order not to be attacked) he was to do it (soft pedalling).
The Algerian team, containing two of the race favourites, was chasing hard to bring the three-man break back, but the closest they got was 50 seconds, as both Clint and Jaydé rolled through at a fast enough pace to keep the chasing pack at bay.
ProTouch earned 70 UCI points, which go towards keeping South Africa ranked as the number one nation on the continent, as well as the number one Conti Team in Africa.
