MTN MICROSOFT’S LANGE HUNGRY FOR A HAT-TRICK AT ‘THE FAST ONE’

Malcolm Lange wants to show that despite his advancing years he’s still the country’s quickest sprinter as he aims for a hat-trick of wins at the Pick ‘n Pay Fast One on Sunday.

The 33-year old who rides for the MTN Microsoft team, upstaged all his younger rivals to claim an impressive 14 race wins last year, more than any other South African professional. Critics (and statistics) say that he’ll lose his snap as he approaches his mid-30s, but Lange’s not having any of it.

“Physically, I still feel like a 20-year old,” smiled Lange. “I don’t feel that I’ve got any slower over the years. But as you get older, motivation can become more of a challenge and sometimes it’s down to who is hungrier that determines who wins.”

Lange won The Fast One in 2005 and 2006 and wants to complete a rare hat-trick of wins at one of the country’s most prestigious races in what just might be his final year as a professional.

“The past two years I’ve won this race from small breakaway groups and haven’t had to contest a mass bunch sprint which is always more dangerous and unpredictable,” explained Lange. “Hopefully there will be wind on Sunday so my team can try and break the race up again which obviously seems to suit us.”

The Fast One is a 100km point-to-point race that starts in Germiston and finishes at Vanderbijlpark. The race is popular among cyclists because it lends itself to fast times which helps improve cyclists’ seeding for other major events like the Cape Argus Pick ‘n Pay Cycle Tour and the Pick ‘n Pay 94.7 Cycle Challenge.

However, time and seeding are not what the pro’s race for, they’re just interested in one thing – position. Interestingly though, last year, Lange’s winning time was a super-quick 2hrs07min58sec giving him a rapid average speed of 46.89kph! His team captain, Nic White finished a close third in 2006 and the team is aiming for similar dominance in their new sponsor’s colours on Sunday.

Lange will be watched closely by the other sprinters on rival teams, but MTN Microsoft have more than one card to play and will look to the talented 22-year-old Daryl Impey or even Jamie Ball to play the back-up roll should Lange be neutralised, while the wiley White is always a good bet for a win if the race breaks up significantly.

Among a string of other riders that will be out to upset Lange’s hat-trick quest are Rupert Rheeder and Hanco Kachelhoffer (both Harmony) and Nolan Hofmann (Exel).