Devin Shortt, an Irish U23 rider based in South Africa, has taken a strong stage win in one of the biggest races there, Tour of Good Hope.
The former junior South African road race champion was best of a 15-man breakaway at the end of stage 4; some 162km into Paarl in the Western Cape province.
Shortt, who rode for the Caja Rural U23 outfit towards the end of the 2019, is basing himself in South Africa at present before coming to Europe to race in a matter of weeks.
Having just turned 21 years last month, he gave himself a belated birthday present with victory yesterday; proving one of the strongest in an aggressive finale.
Related News
As the breakaway, which included the yellow jersey, fractured on the run in to the finish Shortt got into the first group of riders and edged ahead solo just before the line to win it comfortably.
Advertisement
Riding for local team ACDC Luco he claimed the victory, after 3¾ hours of racing, by two seconds from a group of four others.
That left him 13th overall with today’s final stage remaining; just over 10 minutes behind race leader Jaco Ventor, who was 5th on yesterday's stage.
The 33-year-old overall leader, Ventor, rode for WorldTour team Dimension Data for the past four years before stepping back from the top flight at the end of 2019.
Shortt declared for Ireland in recent months and is hopeful of gaining national U23 selection this season when he will be based in Europe.
Topics
