Kristian House won stage one of the Cell C Tour of South Africa today after a lone break succeeded for the former British champion.
House broke away on his own and built up a lead of around seven minutes. The gap came down as the peloton tried to bring him back, but by the end of the stage he still had a two minute cushion.
It was a successful first outing for the British Rapha Condor Sharp team as House also now holds the sprint jersey while their Namibian rider Dan Craven took the King of the Mountains jersey on the stage.
The 154km stage started near Pretoria in the north of the country, running down to Montecasino. The whole stage was run at over 1,100m above sea level, reaching a maximum altitude of 1,600m.
Team boss John Herety questioned whether or not House's success was in part down to the lack of race radios on his Twitter feed. Although it's not uncommon for breaks to stay away in smaller races with a wide mix of teams, holding over two minutes suggests a misscalculation by the peloton.
Stage two runs in a large circuit to the west of Johannesburg, starting and finishing in Montecasino.
See more on this in Thursday's Cycling Weekly magazine, available in newsagents for £2.75
External links
Tour of South Africa official website
