South African marathon champion, Robyn de Groot (Ascendis Health) secured the women’s title for a changing of the guard at the 10th edition of the Fairview Attakwas Extreme Mountain Bike Challenge in South Africa’s Western Cape Province, on Saturday 16 January, 2016.
De Groot’s victory ended the victory streak of Swiss five-time winner, Ariane Kleinhans (Team Spur).
It became a three-rider battle from early on. As she did last year, Swedish marathon champion Jennie Stenerhag (Ascendis Health), set the early pace. De Groot and Kleinhans followed within three minutes of Stenerhag for the first half before moving past the Swede on the climb to the Queen of the Mountains prime just before halfway.
Kleinhans claimed the hot-spot prize, but then punctured on the rough descent that followed. This left De Groot in the lead with Stenerhag not too far behind. The two Ascendis Health riders completed the remainder of the race separately, but finished an impressive 12th and 13th overall to claim the first and second place positions.
De Groot clocked a time of 5:46:27 with Stenerhag three minutes back in 5:49:46. Kleinhans was 27th overall in 6:09:07, the first time in six years she hasn’t been the first woman home.
“Ariane had a small gap on me over the Queen of the Mountain climb. Once I was in the lead after her puncture, I had to race my own race. I had paced myself really well for the first half so still felt really good at that stage. I was expecting to have to contend with the headwind on my own in the final 40km, but it wasn’t as strong as I’d anticipated,” explained De Groot.
“To win Attakwas is pretty special! It’s considered one of South Africa’s toughest one-day races and it’s one of the few marathons where the women race the ‘ultra-distance’ the same as the men. It’s also where I have been doing a lot of my training as I now live about 5km from the finish,” smiled De Groot.
The 121km race from Chandelier Game Lodge, Oudtshoorn to Pine Creek Resort, Groot Brak includes 2900 metres of vertical ascent, a section through the rugged Attakwas Reserve, an isolated wilderness area that’s seldom visited, but which has steep, rough surfaces.
All of these elements combine to make the Attakwas Extreme Challenge one of the toughest one-day mountain bike races in South Africa.
“I had a few illness and injury issues to deal with last year,” added De Groot, “But I’m 100% healthy again and I’m looking forward to another season of racing for Ascendis Health, and tackling some stage races with Jennie, who seems to be in great form.”
Jeannie Dreyer (RMB USN) and Theresa Ralph (Galileo Risk) rounded out the top five places in the women’s race.
Final Positions in the 121km 2016 Fairview Attakwas Extreme Challenge at Oudtshoorn, on Saturday, 16 January 2016:
- Robyn de Groot (RSA) Ascendis Health 05:46:27
- Jennie Stenerhag (RSA) Ascendis Health 05:49:46
- Ariane Kleinhans (SUI) Team Spur 06:09:07
- Jeannie Dreyer (RSA) RMB USN 06:19:20
- Theresa Ralph (RSA) Galileo Risk 06:20:49
- Reinette Geldenhuis (RSA) 06:23:17
- Carmen Buchacher (RSA) 06:31:37
- Ischen Stopforth (RSA) 06:38:52
- Louise Ferreira (RSA) 06:45:38
- Sharon Laws (GBR) 06:47:29
Photo 1 caption: Ascendis Health racer Robyn de Groot is delighted at her first victory at the 2016 Fairview Attakwas Extreme Mountain Bike Challenge on Saturday, 16 January, 2016. Photo: www.zooncronje.com
Photo 2 caption: De Groot’s teammate and Swedish champion Jennie Stenerhag led for the most of the first half of Saturday. Photo: www.zooncronje.com
Photo 3 caption: Robyn de Groot passes former five-time winner Ariane Kleinhans (Team Spur) up a loose climb during the early part of the 2016 Fairview Attakwas Extreme Mountain Bike Challenge on Saturday. Photo: www.zooncronje.com
With editing by gsport
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