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GARDEN ROUTE NEWS & VIDEO - The Team Spur squads got the 2017 Momentum Health Cape Pioneer Trek, off to the best possible start with stage victories for both the men’s and women’s teams.
Alan Hatherly and Matt Beers claimed the win in the UCI men’s race for Team Spur/Red-E, while Ariane Lüthi and Amy-Beth McDougall were victorious on the first stage of the race, on Sunday 15 October, for Team Spur/Valencia.
The 96 kilometre long stage, which challenged riders with 1 650 meters of climbing, started and finished at Milkwood Primary School, in Mossel Bay, and took in a scenic loop through ripening wheat fields and nature reserves boasting all the members of the Big Five.
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The day started with a 7 kilometre long neutral zone through the town and the pace stayed relatively steady for the next 28 kilometres as a big group of favourites, excluding the Team Ascendis Health duo of Robyn de Groot and Sabine Spitz, made their way towards the first serious challenge of the day.
The Spur/Red-E completed the stage in a time of 3 hours 35 minutes and 32 seconds, 55.91 seconds ahead of NAD Pro MTB.
With six days and 457 kilometres left to race the time gap of less than a minute is hardly significant, especially considering Combrink suffered a mechanical in the closing kilometres.
“I had a slow puncture which we eventually had to stop to bomb when we reached the tar. That cost us some time” Combrink explained.
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“But fortunately Nico [Bell] is pretty quick on the road, so we limited our losses.”
In the women’s race the Spur/Valencia team was utterly dominant as Robyn de Groot struggled with a recurrence of the injury which has hampered her season since May.
Lüthi and McDougall opened a lead of five minutes by the half-way point in the stage, but as the stage neared its conclusion De Groot’s injury gradually warmed up allowing her to transfer power more effectively.
The third women’s team was the Junto Ladies team of Nicky Giliomee and Frankie du Toit.
“Today was the furthest Frankie [du Toit] has ever raced so we took it relatively easy” Giliomee said.
"The shorter, punchy, of stage two will better suit the young Junto women’s cross country strengths.
Monday’s second stage of the 2017 Momentum Health Cape Pioneer Trek is 71 kilometres long, takes in 1 550 metres of climbing, and once again loops out and back from the Milkwood Primary School.
The route explores the plains to the west of Mossel Bay and takes in the famous Pinnacle Point resort and the Bergsig Game Farm.
Mountain biking fans can watch the highlights from every stage of the race on the Cape Pioneer Trek Facebook page and the Dryland Event Management YouTube Channel from 20:00, Central African Time, daily.
While more information on the event is available at www.capepioneer.co.za and the stages can be followed live on event’s Twitter handle, @CapePioneerTrek.
Results: Momentum Health Cape Pioneer Trek - Stage 1
UCI Men:
1. Team Spur/RedE, Alan Hatherly & Matthew Beers (3:35:32)
2. NAD Pro MTB, Nico Bell & Gawie Combrink (3:36:28 / +00:55)
3. Kellys Bikeranch Team, Jiri Krivanek & Marek Rauchfuss (3:38:07 / +02:34)
4. KMC Fruit to Go, Bram Rood & Gerben Mos (3:38:50 / +03:17)
5. SPOT Africa, Derrin Smith & Timothy Hammond (3:41:49 / +06:16)
UCI Women:
1. Team Spur/Valencia, Ariane Luthi & Amy-Beth McDougall (3:57:05)
2. Team Ascendis Health, Robyn de Groot & Sabine Spitz (4:00:52 / + 03:47)
3. Junto Ladies, Nicky Giliomee & Frankie du Toit (4:21:22.934 / + 24:17)
4. Team Cape Brewing Company, Ila Stow & Marianne Bergli (4:42:31 / + 45:26)
5. Anderson Transport, Louise Bezuidenhout & Anneke Viljoen (5:12:05 /+ 1:15:00)
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