The opening stage of the Grindrod Bank Berg & Bush dished up an exciting three-way sprint finish yesterday, but the 98km stage was just the start of the intrigue.
The Day 1 of the popular three-day mountain bike race started from Windmill Farm on top of the escarpment. After some short climbs, riders rode along the Great Wall My China section overlooking KZN before descending into KZN down Solly’s Folly and into the KwaZulu-Natal bushveld in the Winterton area.
The PYGA Eurosteel pairing of Matthys Beukes and Philip Buys crossed the line just ahead of NAD Pro’s Nico Bell and Matt Beers. The second NAD team of Gawie Combrinck and Wessel Botha were also in the final sprint.
A couple of minutes behind were KZN’s Andrew Hill and Shaun Nick Bester from TIB Silverback.
However, after the leading five teams crossed the line it emerged that the three leading teams all missed a turn on the GPS-marked route and ended up accidently taking a small shortcut by cutting out a small loop on the course.
This raised the possibility of an hour penalty for the leading three teams and promoting Hill and Bester to the lead. But Hill and Bester, the two riders who stood to benefit the most, agreed that would not be fair and proposed a simple solution.
Once the discussions between riders, the race commissionaire and the race organisers had ended, good sportsmanship prevailed and the four leading teams agreed the fairest option was for all the leading teams to be given the same time for the opening stage.
With Days 2 and 3 consisting of short and punchy cross-country style routes, having four teams all starting on the same time means there is sure to be plenty of fast, hard and exciting tactical racing.
“Yesterday was a good day for us,” said Matthys Beukes after the finish “We got away early with the two NAD teams. Our second team was just behind so I think they wanted to stay away on the open sections and district roads and they set a decent tempo and we just sat on the back and waited for the finish.
“With about 15kms to go we started to push the pace a bit and got ready for the sprint.
“The descent down Solly’s Folly is amazing and just such a nice treat for everyone. Every year we look forward to that and it did not disappoint this time.”
Matt Beers was already looking forward to the two final days and was expecting the racing to be action packed.
“I don’t know if everybody was feeling a bit fragile but it was just a very constant pace today,” he said while sipping a recovery drink. “It was very controlled throughout the day. We were making sure the second PYGA team did not come closer for a long time.
“Tomorrow and the next day are shorter and faster so we will have our work cut out. I think the days will suit the PYGA guys a bit better. They will be strong on that course.”
In the women, Amy Beth McDougall and Samantha Sanders (Dormakaba) are leading the charge with no real challengers. They are over 20 minutes ahead of Hayley Smith and Christie Hearder.
“We had a beautiful day today,” said Amy Beth McDougall. “This is always such a special day. I have done it so many times … I have done six or seven Berg and Bushes and four joBerg2c events so have done this section over ten times and I know it well. Solly’s was fantastic again.”
McDougall was not concerned about the racing in the women’s teams.
“It does not matter if there are other women close to us or not. We do have a goal of coming in the top ten of the men so we are able to push and motivate ourselves like that.”
McDougall and Sanders are currently lying ninth overall.
Sportsmanship wins the day at Grindrod Bank Berg & Bush Descent MTB event https://t.co/06f6uG5dXK #ArriveAlive #MTB @bergandbush pic.twitter.com/04axPUWn49
— Arrive Alive (@_ArriveAlive) October 5, 2018
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Day 1 Berg & Bush Day 1 Results:
1 Matthew Beers and Nico Bell (NAD Pro 1) 3:21:09
2 Gawie Combrinck and Wessel Botha (PYGA Eurosteel) 3:21:09
3 Andrew Hill and Shaun-Nick Bester (TIB Silverback) 3:21:09
4 Philip Buys and Matthys Beukes (NAD Pro 2) 3:21:09
5 Julian Jessop and Phillimon Sebona (PYGA Eurosteel 2) 3:29:38
Mixed
1 Ben Melt Swanepoel and Yolandi Toit 3:51:44
2 Theresa Ralph and Tom Wetton 3:54:24
3 Dirk Nel and Ronel Van Wyk Nel 4:18:10
Women
1 Samantha Sanders and Sam Sanders (dormakaba) 3:52:49
2 Hayley Smith and Christie Hearder 4:15:19
3 Andrea de Boer and Elmari De Wet 4:47:44