South African champion Yolande de Villiers lead from start to finish to win the 2021 Momentum Medical Scheme Attakwas Extreme MTB in the Western Cape on Saturday.
It was the 48-year-old’s ninth participation in the iconic race and her third victory.
She claimed her first win in the first edition of the race in 2007. Her second win came from thrilling a sprint finish at the 2019 edition, and her third a somewhat ‘social distanced’ one in 2021.
De Villiers clocked a winning time of 05:59:23. Second place went to Amy Beth McDougall in a time of 06:04:55 with Sarah Hill rounding out the podium in a time of 06:18:49.
“I attacked from the start and was on my own at the front for the whole race.” – Yolande de Villiers – Three-times Attakwas Extreme MTB Champion
“My strategy was to race my own race and basically ‘go til you blow’!” said a satisfied De Villiers.
“This was a special victory for me because I lost my previous sponsor at the end of July as a result of the lockdown restrictions due to Covid-19. And today I raced for the first time for my new sponsor, The Coopetto, which is a cycling coaching company owned by my coach, Timo Cooper.”
Taking to Instagram to share her excitement, third-placed Hill said: “3rd place at Attakwas MTB Extreme! So incredibly stocked. Bike was a machine, I didn’t cramp and weather was a pearler! I have so many words, but so little brain cells right now. Those who survived understand. Update to come,” she concluded.
The first ten finishers at the Attakwas Extreme get gold medals and all finishers under six hours get silver medals with bronze medals going to the remainder of the finishers. This year there were only 30 riders that broke the six-hour silver-medal cut-off.
Top Finishers at the Attakwas Extreme MTB on Saturday, 21 August 2021 at Pine Creek Resort:
- Yolande de Villiers, RSA (The Coopetto) 05:59:23
- Amy Beth McDougall, RSA (Perigon/Motor Lease/BH) 06:04:55
- Sarah Hill, RSA (Liv Racing) 06:18:41
- Kim le Court, MRU (Galileo Infiniti Spot) 06:43:56
- Kelsey van Schoor, RSA (Customised BioPlus) 06:46:58
- Leone Verster RSA (Wintergreen) 06:57:05
- Mandi Augustyn, RSA 06:57:10
- Nicola Walker, RSA 07:00:55
- Sarita Louw, RSA 07:07:36
- Franci Joubert, RSA 07:47:51
Photo 1 Caption: The women’s podium of the 2021 Momentum Medical Scheme Attakwas Extreme, presented by Biogen is, from left: Kelsey van Schoor (fifth), Sarah Hill (third), Yolande de Villiers (first), Amy Beth McDougall (second) and Kim Le Court (fourth). Photo: ZC Marketing Consulting
Copy by Attakwas Extreme with editing by gsport
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