South African Sunshine

Rapha Condor Sharp got the season started in solid fashion last week, with Kristian House taking the overall GC at the Tour of South Africa. Aided by Jonathan Tiernan-Locke, Ben Greenwood, Graham Briggs, Zak Dempster and Dan Craven, the team rode in hot, testing conditions but showed focus and form. After taking the yellow jersey on the opening day with an impressive long range attack, House only lost nine seconds of his original advantage across the following stages. Manager John Herety was delighted with his team's near-perfect performance.

“We knew it would be a big call to defend a lead over six stages, but Kristian is in fantastic form, and this was the perfect opportunity to prove the team could dictate a race at this international standard. The team rode flawlessly as a unit, I couldn’t have asked for more”.

The boys in black dominated the Tour, keeping their rivals in check by controlling the peloton as and when required. House also defied those challenging for his lead by fearlessly putting in an attack on the lead group on the final climb of stage 5. House said:

“I can’t thank the guys enough for this week. We took on some big teams and had quite a fight on our hands, but it turned out perfectly for us. I’m excited for this year, we have a great squad. We will all feel the benefit of racing to win here”.