Stage 6 Summary, Results + Overall Results + PHOTOS

SHOOT: When I visisted Kristian House in his hotel room this afternoon for an interview, the yellow jersey holder and team manager John Herety were pouring over these results.  House lost time today, not a lot, but he was certainly tested by Impey on the final two climbs.  That said, he still has a cushion of over 2 minutes going into the last stage, which, barring incident, ought to be enough.

Stage 6 – Hermanus to Ou Helshoogte Pass, Stellenbosch

Starting in Hermanus, the queen stage of the inaugural Tour of South Africa welcomed current SA Road Cycling Champion Darren Lill (DCM) to the finish at Ou Helshoogte Pass after a close sprint with rivals Johann Rabie of Team Bonitas and Jaco Venter, Team Verandas Willems-Accent.

The South African Road Champion put in a formidable attack, which no one could follow, at the start of the final Helshoogte climb, then soloed to the finish.

An elated Lill commented on his ride saying, "My teammate Ian McLeod did a great job in keeping the pace high, I saw everyone was tired when we got to the final climb, and I was still good, so I decided to jump."

After already racing 90km, the biggest break of the day was up the Franschhoek pass where 360 Life rider David George put in an attack as soon as the ascent started.  George crossed the top of the mountain with a 50-second advantage on the fragmented peloton.

George who was lying 5th in the race overall was making his bid to win the race.  He was caught near Boschendal Estate with about 15km to go. 

Riders kept trying to attack off the front but MTN-Qhubeka set a blistering pace. Lill decided to counter attack a move from Chris Jennings (Burgos 2016), and immediately opened up a sizeable lead between him and the peloton. 

Jaco Venter (Veranda's Willems-Accent) tried to bridge the gap but Lill was adamant at getting victory on home turf. Johann Rabie (Team Bonitas) out sprinted the chasing group for second place, whilst Venter finished third.

Rapha Condor-Sharp’s Kristian House will retain the Gold jersey on the final stage of The Cell C Tour of South Africa which will take place in Paarl tomorrow.

manager John Herety said, "We played a dangerous game today, relying on

In other competitions:

KOM – Daryl Impey, MTN Qhubeka

Best African Rider – Johan Rabie (Team Bonitas)

Samsung Young Rider – Christopher Jennings (Team Verandas Willems-Accent)

Stage 6 Results

1 119 RSA19820820 LILL Darren DCM RSA 03h18'26''
2 65 RSA19870308 RABIE Johann BNT RSA 03h18'44'' 18''
3 1 RSA19870213 VENTER Jaco VWA RSA 03h18'46'' 20''
4 57 RSA19841206 IMPEY Daryl MTN RSA 03h18'46'' ''
5 17 FRA19840426 QUEMENEUR Perrig EUC FRA 03h18'46'' ''
6 6 BEL19860513 DEGAND Thomas VWA BEL 03h18'46'' ''
7 79 RSA19760223 GEORGE David LIF RSA 03h18'50'' 24''
8 101 CZE19741013 KADLEC Milan CZE CZE 03h18'50'' ''
9 103 MAR19820714 JELLOUL Adil MAR MAR 03h18'53'' 27''
10 70 RSA19920221 * MEINTJES Louis TOC RSA 03h18'53'' ''
11 38 RSA19870906 JANSE VAN RENSBURG Jacques VMC RSA 03h18'53'' ''
12 94 NED19880515 BROERS Remco CCD NED 03h18'53'' ''
13 8 USA19870115 DUGAN William TT1 USA 03h18'53'' ''
14 54 ETH19910825 * GRMAY Tsgabu Gebremaryam UAT ETH 03h18'53'' ''
15 28 GBR19791006 HOUSE Kristian RCS GBR 03h18'57'' 31''
16 49 ERI19881110 TEKLEHAIMANOT Daniel UAT ERI 03h18'57'' ''
17 7 AUS19870827 CALABRIA Fabio TT1 AUS 03h18'59'' 33''
18 18 FRA19880518 REZA Kévin EUC FRA 03h19'00'' 34''
19 37 RSA19910205 * JENNINGS Christopher VMC RSA 03h19'00'' ''
20 27 GBR19841226 TIERNAN-LOCKE Jonathan RCS GBR 03h19'00'' ''
21 71 RSA19890608 * IHLENFELDT Stefan TOC RSA 03h19'04'' 38''
22 48 ITA19860414 FRUSTO Henry DAN ITA 03h19'05'' 39''
23 10 RUS19830417 SHMIDT Alexey TT1 RUS 03h19'07'' 41''
24 12 NED19850504 VERSCHOOR Maartijn TT1 NED 03h19'07'' ''
25 51 ERI19900712 * OKBATSION Misnga UAT ERI 03h19'07'' ''
26 4 BEL19821020 HABEAUX Gregory VWA BEL 03h19'17'' 51''
27 115 RSA19801003 MCLEOD Ian DCM RSA 03h19'19'' 53''
28 104 MAR19850823 LAHSAINI Mouhssine MAR MAR 03h19'26'' 01'00''
29 80 RSA19780606 EVANS Kevin LIF RSA 03h19'26'' ''
30 85 NED19850526 BURGER Leon MCR NED 03h19'29'' 01'03''
31 111 RSA19850929 BAXTER Richard TAG RSA 03h19'32'' 01'06''
32 58 RSA19841019 VAN NIEKERK Dennis MTN RSA 03h19'34'' 01'08''
33 16 FRA19871101 HUREL Tony EUC FRA 03h20'21'' 01'55''
34 42 ESP19830318 BELDA GARCIA David VMC ESP 03h20'26'' 02'00''
35 96 NZL19870226 MEENHORST Alex CCD NZL 03h20'26'' ''
36 63 RSA19820708 WOOLCOCK Waylon BNT RSA 03h20'30'' 02'04''
37 67 RSA19740108 WHITE Nicholas TOC RSA 03h20'30'' ''
GC Results after stage 6

1 28 GBR19791006 HOUSE Kristian RCS GBR 19h11'15''
2 65 RSA19870308 RABIE Johann BNT RSA 19h13'24'' 02'09''
3 57 RSA19841206 IMPEY Daryl MTN RSA 19h13'26'' 02'11''
4 17 FRA19840426 QUEMENEUR Perrig EUC FRA 19h13'26'' ''
5 6 BEL19860513 DEGAND Thomas VWA BEL 19h13'26'' ''
6 79 RSA19760223 GEORGE David LIF RSA 19h13'30'' 02'15''
7 38 RSA19870906 JANSE VAN RENSBURG Jacques VMC ESP 19h13'33'' 02'18''
8 27 GBR19841226 TIERNAN-LOCKE Jonathan RCS GBR 19h13'43'' 02'28''
9 119 RSA19820820 LILL Darren DCM RSA 19h13'44'' 02'29''
10 101 CZE19741013 KADLEC Milan CZE CZE 19h14'12'' 02'57''
11 8 USA19870115 DUGAN William TT1 USA 19h14'15'' 03'00''
12 18 FRA19880518 REZA Kévin EUC FRA 19h14'18'' 03'03''
13 37 RSA19910205 * JENNINGS Christopher VMC ESP 19h14'22'' 03'07''
14 58 RSA19841019 VAN NIEKERK Dennis MTN RSA 19h14'56'' 03'41''
15 94 NED19880515 BROERS Remco CCD LUX 19h15'27'' 04'12''
16 96 NZL19870226 MEENHORST Alex CCD LUX 19h15'48'' 04'33''
17 115 RSA19801003 MCLEOD Ian DCM RSA 19h15'53'' 04'38''
18 103 MAR19820714 JELLOUL Adil MAR MAR 19h16'16'' 05'01''
19 49 ERI19881110 TEKLEHAIMANOT Daniel UAT UAT 19h16'20'' 05'05''
20 54 ETH19910825 * GRMAY Tsgabu Gebremaryam UAT UAT 19h16'28'' 05'13''
21 7 AUS19870827 CALABRIA Fabio TT1 USA 19h16'35'' 05'20''
22 16 FRA19871101 HUREL Tony EUC FRA 19h17'22'' 06'07''
23 10 RUS19830417 SHMIDT Alexey TT1 USA 19h18'10'' 06'55''
24 91 GER19870526 SCHNEIDER Nico CCD LUX 19h18'32'' 07'17''
25 105 MAR19760101 SAADOUNE Abdelati MAR MAR 19h18'40'' 07'25''
26 80 RSA19780606 EVANS Kevin LIF RSA 19h18'43'' 07'28''