By Cycling News,
The Eritrean, who triumphed in the individual time-trial at last month’s continental tournament, sprinted to the classic win on the Hartbeeshoek road in a time of 2:27:27.
The finish line was awash with the feeder team’s familiar black-and-white kit as Teshome’s teammates stormed in on his wheel to complete their dominating performance in the 106km road race.
Jayde Julius and Metkel Eyob took second and third respectively, with Tesfom Okubamariam, Stefan de Bod and Gustav Basson continuing the clean sweep of the top six in a shared time of 2:27:28.
It was Teshome’s last race on South African soil before relocating to Germany, where he has signed with UCI Continental team Bike Aid for the 2016 season. In the interim, he will rejoin his national team for the Tour of Rwanda.
The 23-year-old said the victory had been a bittersweet parting gift from his team.
“It is a good ending to my two years here. It is difficult leaving because we are not like other teams, we are like family.”
The racing started ideally in cool and overcast conditions, as Teshome attempted an early getaway but he was soon caught by the chasing peloton after 13km.
His whole team surged again around the 20km mark, with only Pieter Seyffert (Altech-Autopage) and Calvin Beneke (Luso South Africa) able to respond.
By the time Teshome captured the sprint prime at 43km, the eight-rider selection had extended their lead to more than three minutes over the chasing peloton.
