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Stander lifts SA MTB Marathon title

23 March 2011

There was a sense of déjà vu at the South African Mountain Bike Marathon Championships at the Inanda Dam in KwaZulu-Natal's Valley of a Thousand Hills on Sunday as Burry Stander and Kevin Evans did battle for the title.

For the past four years, the South African title had been won by one of the two men and once again they proved themselves to be the class of the field in the race for victory.

In 2008, Evans of Team 360Life was crowned South African champion. The following year Team Specialized's Stander claimed the honours, with Evans finishing second.

Last year Evans won again, while Stander finished as the runner-up. On Sunday, Stander kept his cool when it mattered most and won his second SA Marathon title in three years.

Sprint

He out-sprinted Evans going through the last sharp corner to win the 80-kilometre race in three hours, 25 minutes, and 20 seconds. With a gutsy ride, Philip Buys of Garmin-adidas claimed the bronze medal.

With his victory on Sunday, Stander completed his second double of South African marathon and cross-country titles in the same calendar year. He made the coveted double gold his by winning the SA pro-elite cross-country title last weekend in Stellenbosch.

He previously did the double in 2009.

In Sunday's race, Stander and Evans chose to play a waiting game at first, allowing riders such as Buys, Rourke Croeser, Brandon Stewart (DCM) and Paul Cordes (MTN/Qhubeka) to set the pace and be the early aggressors.

Mechanical problems

Two of the other leading contenders Adrien Niyonshuti (MTN/Qhubeka) and Mannie Heymans (Garmin-adidas) had their challenges undermined by mechanical problems.

Niyonshuti punctured three times, which effectively meant the race was over for him, and the seat post clamp of Heymans's mountain bike came loose, making it difficult for him to sit properly.

About halfway through the race, Evans had an anxious moment when he made an error of judgment while racing at high speed through one of the sharp bends on a single-track section. He paid the price, flying through the air, over his handle bars, before crashing landing in some bushes.

Being a seasoned mountain bike professional, it took Evans only a few seconds to gather his wits and get back on his bike, but he had to chase hard to catch up with the leaders.

Pace

Stander said that he decided halfway through the race to increase the pace because he did not want it to end in a bunch sprint for the line.

"I had one of those perfect racing days, when it felt as if I could do nothing wrong and could just go on racing for another hour or two without even getting tired. It is a pity that the race was not a bit longer.

"To the credit of the organisers, I must admit that it was a true mountain biker's race with a lot of technical single-track sections."

Evans was the only rider who managed to stay with Stander, proving that South Africa's two top mountain bikers are definitely ready for the Cape Epic that begins this coming weekend (26 March).

Women

Catherine Williamson of Bizhub won the women's marathon, while Karien van Jaarsveld of USN finished second, with her team-mate Cherise Taylor in third.

The South African title went to Van Jaarsveld, however, because Williams is a British rider.

SAinfo reporter