Hoffman continued where he left off on day one of the track champs with wins in both the Omnium 4000m pursuit and 1km time trial events and a third place in the 15km scratch which, together with his three victories on the opening day, gave him his first title at this year’s competition.
“I’m really happy with the win and it’s great to have started the champs off with gold,” said Hoffman. “The form has been good my side and I’ve been racing dominantly over the past two days which is obviously great for my confidence and definitely gives me one up on my competitors early on.
“Going into competitions sometimes you’ve got to try force your dominance onto others and I’ve managed to do that over the past two days so I’m really happy with how things have gone so far,” he added.
Hoffman claimed his fourth win in as many starts in the six-leg elite men’s Omnium when he raced to victory in the Omnium 4000m pursuit final early on the second day however, with a long weekend ahead of him and a strong effort by his competitors, Hoffman had to settle for third in the Omnium 15km scratch event.
Instead it was Pieter Seyffert (Westvaal BMC) and Oupa Makuleke (Panda) who enjoyed the limelight temporarily as they managed to break away from the rest of the pack with close on four kilometres to go and with the Omnium front runners playing cat and mouse with each other the pair were left to battle it out between them for the spoils, which Seyffert claimed narrowly.
“Two guys managed to get away in the scratch race but the rest of the guys weren’t too worried about it with it being part of the Omnium. For me it was actually ideal because I was then able to sit back a bit because they were just taking points away from the other guys, which suited me perfectly,” said Hoffman.
Hoffman however came back strongly later on in the day to claim victory in the 1km time trial final, giving him five firsts and a third in the six Omnium events, enough to earn him his first title of the champs, a title that was held by 2011 Omnium Champion Boyd Roberts (Intellibus).
Track legend Wayne Pheiffer suffered an unfortunate fall whilst competing in his master’s sprint event and suffered some nasty abrasions to his face, shoulders and chest as well as a suspected fractured collarbone.
The cycling hero however demanded that his son Brent Pheiffer (Intellibus) stay at the track and compete in the elite men’s 1500m final and compete he most certainly did.
From the onset Pheiffer set off at an incredible pace laying down the gauntlet for the rest of the bunch to change their tactics and come after him far earlier than many would have hoped.
No one however was prepared to follow Pheiffer except for crowd favourite Oupa Maluleke who valiantly accepted the challenge and went after Pheiffer alone.
As the pair circulated alone and tired quickly the sprinters in the pack suddenly sprung into action with just over a lap to go however it was too little too late and against all odds Pheiffer claimed his first title of the champs.
In the elite ladies section Maroesjka Matthee claimed gold in the Sprint final with Tannah Robinson having to settle for second and Dalena Nel third.
SUMMARY OF RESULTS - CSA KZN ALL AFRICA CHALLENGE
SA NATIONAL TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS
DAY ONE – Elite Men
Omnium – Flying Lap Final
1. Nolan Hoffman 14:06
2. James Louter 14:26
3. Jean Spies 14:51
Omnium – 30km Points Final
1. Nolan Hoffman 68 points
2. Evan Carstens 59 points
3. Jean Spies 41 points
Omnium – Elimination Final
1. Nolan Hoffman
2. Evan Carstens
3. James Louter
DAY TWO – Elite Men
Omnium – 4000m Pursuit Final
1. Nolan Hoffman 04.53
2. Jean Spies 04.58
3. James Louter 05.01
Omnium – 15km Scratch Final
1. Pieter Seyffert
2. Oupa Maluleke
3. Nolan Hoffman
Omnium – 1km Time Trial Final
1. Nolan Hoffman
1500m Final
1. Brent Pheiffer
2. Jeanné Nell
3. Oupa Maluleke
Elite Women Sprint Final
1. Maroesjka Matthee 13.25
2. Tannah Robinson
3. Ilze Bole
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