Last year, all eyes were on Malcolm Lange who was expected to give Team Medscheme a podium finish at South Africa’s most popular cycle race, the Cape Argus Pick ‘n Pay Cycle Tour.  But it was Lange’s young teammate, Arran Brown, who surprised many when he outsprinted a large peloton to win the coveted title.

On Sunday Brown will be missing from the line-up of favourites. A persistent tendon injury that requires surgery has forced the 25-year-old sprinter out of the race.

But despite the setback, the country’s most successful road team of 2009 brims with confidence after recentlyadding two more riders to its ranks. Johann Rabie and Luthando Kaka have bolstered the team for 2010, taking the total number of riders from six to eight. They join Lange, Brown, Nic White, Neil Macdonald, Waylon Woolcock and Hanco Kachelhoffer, giving the team all-important depth.

“Road racing success isn’t based around one great rider, but requires the whole team to be great,” explained Malcolm Lange, who also owns the team.  “Sure, ‘The Argus’ usually comes down to a sprint, but there’s a small chance it won’t and any team that’s not prepared for that possibility will lose out. And if it does end a sprint, we’ve got the riders and the experience to create a winning situation.”

Lange, himself a former two-time champion of the Cycle Tour, is also approaching peak form and is not a rider that can be discounted as a potential winner, especially considering his vast experience and the fact that he’s won an incredible 406 races in his career.

“Nic showed with his silver medal at the SA road champs two weeks ago that we’re a team that can be competitive in any race. With Luthando and Johann we now have seven riders as opposed to the six at last year’s Cycle Tour. The extra depth one rider brings is important and something we missed last year. It will help take the team to a new level not only on Sunday but throughout the rest of 2010.”

The addition of Kaka to the team is an important factor in that it’s confirmation of Medscheme’s commitment to the development of cycling in South Africa. Kaka is the first black South African rider to be signed to a top professional road team based on his racing results. Riding as an individual, without the support of a team, Kaka was a regular top-10 finisher in some of the country’s biggest races in 2008 and 2009. Now, with the backing of the country’s most successful team, it’s almost a given that those top-10 results will turn into podium finishes.

“Winning ‘The Argus’ is one thing. Defending that title is another,” remarked Lange. “It’s such an important race for South Africans because of its size. Every South African professional will be out to try and win on Sunday, as will all the overseas teams that will be competing in the preceding Giro del Capo stage race. But we’re quite confident that even without Arran, Team Medscheme is up to the task of defending our title.”