Janse van Rensburg claims first win of 2013 in Mémorial Frank Vandenbroucke

Reinardt Janse van Rensburg won Binche-Chimay-Binche today. The 187.6km long race in the Walloon region of Hainaut marked the first victory of the South-African rider since he graduated to the WorldTour with Argos-Shimano this year. “This course suited me. I believed I could win and I am really happy I succeeded.”

Janse van Rensburg beat Vacansoleil-DCM’s Björn Leukemans and Greg van Avermaet of BMC.

In 2013, Janse van Rensburg was the 4th of most succesful riders on the year’s victory ranking after André Greipel with 19, Peter Sagan with 16 and Mark Cavendish with 15 wins. The South African won 14 races with the Ronde van Zeeland Seaports, a UCI 1.1 race, as his biggest victory. He also won the national time trial title in South Africa.

Janse van Rensburg moved to Argos-Shimano for two seasons after that succesful period with the then-continental MTN-Qhubeka team.

“This was my first victory as a professional,” Janse van Rensburg said after winning Binche-Chimay-Binche. “I won a lot last year but this is my breakthrough victory. It’s a little bit late in the season but I am really happy it came in the end.”

The race around the city of Binche started with a five-man breakaway with Bertjan Lindeman of Vacansoleil-DCM, Katusha’s Maxim Belkov, Cofidis’ Nico Sijmens, Thomas Degand of Accent Jobs-Wanty and local rider Tom Dernies of Wallonie Bruxelles. They gained a substantial gap but were reeled in at 40 kilometers from the line. In the remaining three local laps with a difficult cobbled section in the last kilomter lots of attacks followed but none of the groups gathered a lead of over 30 seconds.

In the last 16km long lap Greg van Avermaet attacked at 2km from the line. He gained a few meters on the cobbles but soon found Björn Leukemans and Janse van Rensburg on his wheel. The fast South African, who is an excellent time triallist and sprinter, overtook the Belgian duo to cross the line solo.

“It was a very hectic final with so many attacks. It meant I had to be lucky if it came down to a sprint. I have felt pretty good since I finished the Vuelta and decided to go early. It was a bit of a gamble. The legs really hurt in the last 150 meters. When I started here today I really felt I could win the race. I arrived here this morning and felt it was possible. I am really, really happy with this victory,” Janse van Rensburg concluded.