This weekend the quartet of James Perry, Jeremy Maartens, Nolan Hoffman and Johann Rabie took control of proceedings at the Medscheme Tour de Vino and ran out victorious claiming all three podium positions.

The race was contested by numerous top squads from the Western Cape with Team Neotel being the only Gauteng based squad to make an appearance. The early morning start saw riders being greeted by some fierce windy conditions that certainly became a factor during the already challenging race.

Some early attacks were launched by some of the smaller teams but Team Neotel had the upper hand and put the field in the gutter, completely splintering the bunch. At the 35 km mark a 6-man group containing all the Neotel riders as well as Luthando Khaka (acsis) and Aaron Brown (HoP) went clear. But the Neotel team had other plans and immediately started their attacks to shake off the two riders. With approximately 40 km covered, the trio of Maartens, Perry and Rabie went clear while Hoffman sat back with Brown and Khaka.

The leaders soon built a 3 min gap on the peloton and this looked certain to be the winning move. However, there was confusion out on the route and the Neotel riders were directed on the wrong route causing them to do some additional kilometres. The mix-up saw some of the back markers being awarded the race victory.

But all was not in vain and an honourable decision was taken by Medscheme CEO, Andre Meyer, and he awarded two sets of prizes to the field. The Neotel trio were awarded for their efforts in the 135 km race, with Perry running out victorious, while Ian McLarty was awarded for the 110 km event.

“The race went well and the guys put in a good effort out on the road. It was unfortunate that we were let down by the officials but I have to say that it was a noble and brave decision taken by the sponsor to award two sets of prizes.

"It is fantastic that we have sponsors in the sport that are willing to go the extra mile but the various bodies need to get their houses in order so they can offer better complete packages to sponsors like Medscheme and ensure that they get the most out of their sponsorship”, said Barry Austin