Persistance paid off for Darren Lill (Cannondale Blend) this past weekend when he claimed victory at the fifth round of the MTN National MTB Series driven by Nissan at Rooiberg in the Limpopo Province.
Photo: Zoon Cronje
Tipped by many to be a real African bush mountain bike riding experience over delivered with abundant close encounters with wildlife and rapturous trails.
According to Lill the pre race tactics dictated that he would be working for team mate Waylon Woolcock who was better suited to the extreme rocky terrain of the “bushveld”.
Lill matched the early attacks blow for blow and managed to stick with early protagonist Max Knox from FedGroup Itec.
Knox and team mate Kevin Evans were determined to deliver a one two result tactically intended to have Knox ride away and stay away.
Afterward Evans jokingly said “the plan was to have Max attack and stay away, but he couldn’t shake Darren before he popped”.
Evans who said with age his diesel engine only kicks in after 70km made a significant surge to ride up from sixth position into third riding a clever tactical race.
“The idea was to make things hard at the start but I ended up only putting myself under pressure when the hills came towards the end of the race” Knox added.
Evans made up a lot of ground but admitted “it was too little too late” and could not catch up to the flailing Knox and flying Lill.
Lill crossed the line in first and was hailed by many for his unyielding persistence proclaiming it a well deserved win.
See the results here.
