Local cyclists make Knysna proud
Knysna locals Hannele Steyn-Kotze and Chris Nel, of Team Rocket-Medac, made a clean sweep of the stages of the Garden Route Rocky Mountain 300 mountain-bike race to win the mixed section in a good time of 14:16:33, in Knysna over the weekend (February 24 to 26).
Preserving their eight-minute lead, Johannesburg’s Team Craft, Adrian Enthoven and Delaney Impey, claimed overall victory in the taxing three-day bike race on Sunday, February 26 when they crossed the line in third position on the final stage to secure the honours in 12:32:25, ahead of day one’s, leaders Timo Cooper and Jarryd Haley of Team Rocky Mountain (12:40:15). Billy Stelling and Riccardo Stermin of Team Daikin Gu were third (12:57:24).
Cooper and Haley, from Wellington and Hermanus respectively, bounced back to win the 80km final stage in an exciting three-way sprint in 3:15:07, after relinquishing their overall lead the previous day. They beat Capetonians Stelling and Stermin to the line.
A series of technical difficulties erased Catherine Williamson (Britain) and Yolandi du Toit (Heidelberg) of Team Bizhub-FCF’s 15-minute overnight lead to end their title hopes in the women’s race.Fellow Bizhub riders Nicci Grobler (Pretoria) and Leana de Jager (Stellenbosch) won the stage in 3:39:41 to take the overall win in a combined time of 14:38:36.
Cooper and Haley tried to force an early break by pushing the pace on the first major climb up Phantom Pass, but overnight leaders Enthoven and Impey held on gamely. “We thought we could have a go at them and make up some time, but they just sat on our wheel,” said Haley.
Capetonians Stelling and Stermin also latched on to form a breakaway group of six. “Eventually we all realised we couldn’t get rid of each other, so we decided to pace together and open up a gap on the chasers.”
In his first outing with Impey, Enthoven said he was very pleased with their overall result after he finished runner-up last year. “We took a wrong turn on day one so we had to fight all day to secure second. We started the second day three minutes behind, so we rode absolutely flat-out for five hours.
“Today was a bit easier for us. We took it easy, sat in the group and just made sure we didn’t make any mistakes.”
He said that the race was excellent preparation for next month’s Absa Cape Epic as the conditions are similar. Enthoven described the 295km route as “stunning, with a nice mix of forest roads and some of the best single track in the country”.
Benevolent cyclists
Three winning cyclists, Impey, Enthoven and Nina Hind (who finished third in the ladies’ race), donated their prize-money to the Knysna Education Trust. Impey, who won the Rocky Mountain 29er in a lucky draw, donated the bicycle to the Knysna Sports School.
Source: The Knysna-Plett Herald
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