Biogen Ladies’ Ischen Stopforth (front) and Robyn de Groot held onto their overnight lead to claim overall victory in the three-day Nedbank sani2c mountain bike race that finished on the KwaZulu-Natal south coast on Saturday.
The pair won each of the three stages, including opening an 8-minute advantage on a problematic second stage, for Stopforth to add a second title to her name, this time alongside Olympic road rider de Groot.
The Biogen team clocked 3:14:58 for the stage victory en route to a convincing category win in a combined time of 11:32:52.
Britain’s Catherine Williamson, who won with Stopforth last year, took second on the stage with bizhub team-mate Yolandi du Toit in 3:25:40. FedGroup-Itec’s Bridgette Stewart and Jackie Moore completed the day’s podium in 3:33:17.
These teams occupy the same positions in the general classification with overall times of 11:54:16 and 12:51:48 respectively.
De Groot, riding in her first Nedbank sani2c, said she had thoroughly enjoyed the different discipline. “I love mountain biking. I loved the trails and single track,” she said. “Obviously I have some room for improvement but it’s great to learn from someone with Ischen’s experience.”
She said the 360Life floating bridge over Scottburgh lagoon and into the sea had proved challenging. “It was a little bit more unstable than I expected. There were some wobbly moments, especially in the corners!”
Erik and Ariane Kleinhans of RE:CM stamped their authority on the race by taking a third consecutive overall victory in the mixed category in 11:00:43.
They finished more than 27 minutes clear of stage three winners, Kendall Ryan and Patrick Belton of Jeep-Felt, who claimed second on the standings in 11:28:28.
Ryan and Belton took the stage into Scottburgh in 3:06:04, just 26 seconds ahead of the Kleinhans couple, with Educos’s Taygan Robson and Samantha Saunders two minutes back in 3:08:10.
The final step of the overall podium however belonged to RMB Change a Life Academy’s John Ntuli and Jeannie Dreyer in 11:38:09.
Leading Women’s Results in the three-day Nedbank sani2c Mountain Bike Race, from Underberg to Scottburgh on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast, on Saturday 18 May, 2013: 1. Ischen Stopforth & Robyn de Groot (Biogen Ladies) 11:32:52 2. Catherine Williamson & Yolandi du Toit (bizhub) 11:54:16 3. Bridgette Stewart & Jackie Moore (FedGroup-Itec) 12:51:48 4. Melanie Palframan & Eszter Erdelyi (FoxVelolife) 14:06:56 5. Christi Pienaar & Nadine Kloppers (Angry Birds) 14:10:45 Leading Mixed Results in the Nedbank sani2c Mountain Bike Race: 1. Ariane Kleinhans & Erik Kleinhans (RE:CM) 11:00:43 2. Patrick Belton & Kendall Ryan (Jeep-Felt) 11:28:28 3. John Ntuli & Jeannie Dreyer (RMB Change a Life) 11:38:09 4. Taygan Robson & Samantha Sanders (Educos) 11:49:02 5. Nedene Cahill & Ivor Jones (Pure Adventurewear) 11:54:34
(0 rating, 0 votes, rated)
Loading...
