Yolandi du Toit made it two out of two for Team Konica Minolta when she rode to a solo victory with a margin of more than 5 minutes and 30 seconds between her and second-placed Marissa van der Merwe, in the tenth anniversary edition of the Pick 'n Pay 94.7 Cycle Challenge after staying away for more than 60km on her own.

While the likes of Proline, Harmony and CBIST boast multiple team members, Du Toit fights a lone battle for Konica Minolta, and it's very difficult for her to produce results in South Africa.

Today, however, was her day and she capitalised on some negative racing when she went away on the slight rise past the Coca Cola Dome just before halfway and nobody was prepared to chase her.

With 25km to go she had a lead of more than 4 minutes, and still there was no organisation at the back. The women from Proline, Harmony and CBIST simply looked at each other.

Nobody was prepared to commit, and it was a surreal sight to watch the might of especially the Proline squad sit back and let the race simply go up the road and out of their reach in the form of a 21-year-old youngster.

Du Toit's victory was as much against the odds as that of her male counterpart, Martin Velits, who overcame the might of the Barloword and Microsoft squads to win the men's race earlier in the morning.

In the group at the back was four time winner, Anke Moore, two time winner Ronel van Wyk as well as multiple South African champion Anriette Schoeman. It was incredulous to see them all sit back and let Du Toit ride away with the biggest title in Gauteng.

The powers that be at Konica Minolta couldn't have asked for a better day and the showing of Velits and Du Toit today is likely to cement their sponsorship for a while still.

Aggression in women's racing isn't a regular occurrence in South Africa, but Du Toit is certainly the exception courtesy of an extensive season in Europe this year. If you don't ride aggressively in Europe, you don't win races and Du Toit brought that approach to the Cycle Challenge.

For the record, Marissa van der Merwe came second and Anriette Schoeman third to give Proline two podium spots.

"There were lots of attacks at that stage and even I was taking strain, but I've learned that when you're taking strain just go a bit harder," said Du Toit. "After all the attacking I knew that the girls would be tired and I just thought, go, go, go!

"When I had the gap I kept my head down and concentrated on my rhythm. The first time I received word of my position was when my lead had increased to 2 minutes and 50 seconds. I was astounded but I just tried to keep my rhythm and keep going."

Du Toit said she was expecting someone to ride across to her, but it just never happened. "I thought Anke was going to try and come back to me, because she is also aggressive, but nothing transpired. I'm really happy and didn't expect to win, especially not like this."

Du Toit has secured a good pro ride in Europe for next year and it was certainly a fitting way to end her season. "In all the races since I've been back here I've known that I could go harder, because I've had to go much harder for much longer in European races. So it was nice to get out there and really do it today," she said.

Marissa van der Merwe said afterwards that they were caught unawares when Yolandi went. "We saw her go but didn't know how quickly the gap went out. She put in a good attack and nobody chased her. She rode well and she deserves it. She has worked very hard throughout the year without getting many results.

"Proline decided today that we weren't going to do the work, because we always end up doing it, so we decided to sit back and watch what happens. Of course, we would have liked to win, but we're satisfied with second and third," she said.

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