'We were all on our own over there,' says Johan of that period. 'The internet wasn't like it is now and there was no social media. So following race coverage and keeping track of what our compatriots were doing racing-wise wasn't as easy as it is now. When I saw Rob immediately after the Amstel Gold Race, he didn't recognise me at first as I was in my Belgian club kit. But we got chatting and he invited me onto the Lampre bus for a coffee. I told him what I was doing, where I was racing and how I was hoping to sign for a team the following season. It was great to have some SA contact that day and also to hear how Rob's neo-pro year was going.'
Focussing primarily on Belgian amateur kermis racing, Johan didn't have to wait too long for an opportunity to come knocking. All that racing around town circuits was starting to pay dividends as he goes on to explain.
'I was staying with Gijs van Tuyl, a well known bicycle manufacturer, whose wife told me one day that the Cees Priem's secretary had phoned whilst I was out training and wanted to meet with me. Bearing in mind that Cees was the manager of the TVM team at the time, it was a little surreal to digest! So I got in touch with his secretary and was basically instructed to compete in a set series of amateur races before going in for some physiological testing to determine my numbers. So I followed instructions and the test results were satisfactory, so much so that TVM offered me a spot as a stagiaire for a week's racing in Italy.'
While regulations stated that stagiaires weren't allowed to compete in World Cup events, they could start in all other pro category races. So Johan raced in GranPiemonte and some other 1.1 classified events before joining DS Hendrik Redant in the team car for the famed Il Lombardia, the final Monument of the season.
'Hendrik had raced in South Africa and was always friendly to us South African riders, always willing to put in a good word and provide great advice. So it was great to have some familiar company. He explained that TVM viewed me as a good prospect and wanted to offer me a spot in their development team for the following season before progressing on to their professional team. Needless to say that when I returned to South Africa for the off season, I was sitting on tenterhooks the whole of December waiting for their call!'
As is the case in professional cycling, things don't always work out as planned or promised. And while there are many instances of empty promises, other factors such as sponsors pulling out and changes of management changes. Case in point for Johan, although for him there was a light at the end of the contractual tunnel.
'TVM withdrew their sponsorship and Farm-Frites came in as a replacement,' he explains. 'With this came a reshuffling of the management – Cees Priem departed and Teun Van Vliet took over as general manager. But Teun didn't know me, putting me on the backfoot. Also, there was already an inner core of riders built around Classics specialist Peter Van Petegem so it was always going to be difficult for me to break in there. But Hendrik stood true to their original investment in me and made an alternative plan; I would race for the Farm-Frites development team under Jelle Nijdam and Johan Capiot for the early 2000 season before moving to the second division Collstrop - De Federale Verzekeringen team as a fully fledged pro.'
After three races with the Farm-Frites espoirs, Johan made his way to Collstrop, an old school Belgian set up that still exists to the present day under the guise of Intermarché - Circus – Wanty. Now in the employ of another Flandrian cycling stalwart, Hilaire Van der Schueren, he settled in well as a domestique assisting the team's leaders as best he could. Although the Classics were not on his program, the Coupe de France was a staple of his racing diet, as were several French stage races. It was in this unforgiving arena that Johan earned his stripes.
'I've got a boatload of war stories,' he says with a laugh. 'There were several instances of me going back for bidons and being unable to rejoin the peloton. Hilaire had a fairly strong stutter so his instructions came across as garbled over race radio. Then there was the GP Ploulay where I was glued to Christophe Moreau's wheel at 55kph in my 53x11 and unable to take a turn during the finale.'
Apart from the tough times, though, were many great memories. Regular training with Robbie McEwen and my teammate Gordon McCauley is up there ('I lived close to Robbie and trained with him when he was home, which was not often!'), as is Rudy Pevenage inviting me to train with Team Telekom in South Africa during the off season ('My paceline partner Giuseppe Guerini got so sunburnt on our first team training ride along the R44 that he wore arm and leg warmers for the remainder of the camp!'). Transfering to Landbouwkrediet – Colnago for the 2001 season, Johan's trajectory was seemingly on track. He started the season on target for the Classics with participation in the fabled Ronde Van Vlaanderen and Liege-Bastogne-Liege, as well as several other major races. He was getting to grips with the demands of top-tier racing as well as growing as a rider. Unbeknownst to him, though, was that 2001 was to be his final season of full time European racing.
'The end of each season was what I like to refer to as "the circus"', he explains. 'People's words were seldom reality and there were always kickbacks that were required by the directors; if you didn't give them a cut of your pay or have the ability to bring in a sponsor, they didn't race you, as simple as that. Having graduated from university with a degree in commercial law, I had a fairly good understanding of business ethics and pro cycling at the time definitely lacked that. I had by that stage started to assess the lifestyle required to continue and came to the conclusion that I had had a good innings and wanted to move on in life. Landbouwkrediet – Colnago were stalling on an agreement for 2002 and I had an attractive offer from Doug Ryder to race for Microsoft back in South Africa. So I raced for another two seasons back home, which certainly helped in my gradual move to life beyond cycling.'
While life beyond professional sport can be a tough transition, Johan's gradual entry into the real world was fairly seamless. Apart from having completed tertiary education before entering the pro cycling ranks, Johan credits having great mentors in helping him make his way in the working world, just as he had had when making the jump into the European cycling scene.
'Stewart and Ian Banner of the Vineyard Hotel were critical in helping me make decisions about my future career options,' he says. 'I raced a bit with a local team they sponsored in 2004 and listened to their counsel before making a clean break out of cycling. Many ex-pro riders want to open a coffee shop and I was no different. I actually was seriously investigating acquiring a franchise with Seattle Coffee Company when Barry Parker suggested I take an opportunity to work in their logistical arm to see whether I liked it or not. So I spent six years doing that in Johannesburg before moving on to KPMG, which brought me here to Charlotte, North Carolina eight years ago. Needless to say that navigating the corporate culture in the US has been quite an experience.'
And while his pro cycling career is becoming an increasingly distant memory as each year passes by, his love for the sport remains. And every now and then, a reminder of his racing days emerges when least expected.
'My wife and I were in Cape Town recently on holiday and actually had coffee with Rudolf Wentzel, a rival of mine from SA racing and someone who also raced professionally in Belgium for a couple of seasons. And while I was visiting my mother on the Garden Route, I came across my old scrapbooks of racing photos and newspaper articles dating back to the early 1990s. Which made me think I've got to get that old stuff digitised and put it all out there online!'
