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Somehow this one escaped me. A South African winning a stage in the biggest cycle race in the World is certainly something to take note of. Such happenings certainly do not happen on a daily basis or yearly for that matter. The world of cycling is very competitive and a victory such as this is an awesome featr.
With Robbie Hunter's win on the Tour de France in Montpellier last Thursday, South Africa's interest in this grueling 3 week event must have jumped to a new level of interest. While chatting to a friend in South Africa recently via Skype, he mentioned that he needed to end the conversation because the Tour was coming on live.
The Tour is an extraordinary event and when Hunter seized the opportunity to grab victory ahead of his more seasoned rivals, he had to rely on a little bad luck to affect the others as well as making the most of his own situation. With 1km to go there was a crash which caused hesitancy amongst the rest of the big names and Hunter was left in the mix. With under 400m to the finish he switched to the left and surged forward, some may have thought his attack was too early however he was able to hold on by a wheel at the line, with Italy's Fabian Cancellara 2nd.
Hunter's win took him into further contention for the Green jersey, which signifies the Sprint Champion of the tour. This is a highly contested jersey only 2nd in prestige to the Yellow jersey. Winning the sprint title underlines ones cycling ability, as many an event is decided in a sprint finish
On the whole this was a great moment for SA cycling and it should give the sport in the homeland a further boost.
Congrats Robbie Hunter
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