HB Kruger and Robyn de Groot roared to victory in the men’s and women’s marathon in the Lionman leg of the Gauteng Nissan Trailseeker Mountain Bike Series at Mabalingwe on Saturday.
Photo Credit:ZoonCronje.com
Young roadie Kruger (Abantu) gave an impressive off-road performance to take the win in the 70km event in 2:35:42.
Gawie Combrinck (EAI Cycling) claimed the runner-up spot a further four minutes back, with Pieter Seyffert (Altech) rounding out the podium in 2:40:23.
Seyffert put the hammer down from the start, with only Kruger, Combrinck and duathlon star Brand du Plessis able to stay with him.
The foursome worked together until they were separated on the first big climb of the day.
Kruger went over the top first to take the king of the mountains hotspot and opened up a 30-second lead on the technical descent.
Recently crowned national marathon champion Combrinck showed his skills and chased hard as he narrowed the gap but was unable to close Kruger down.
The young road rider’s strength was clear as he extended his lead on the flat, open roads to clinch the win.
“For the first 20 kilometres the pace was quite hard, which split the race up early. I was fortunate not to have any mechanical issues and it felt good to win a mountain bike race again,” said Kruger.
In the women’s race, De Groot took a commanding win in 3:01:14, with Theresa Ralph (RBS) second with Adrienne Moolman third.
“I knew it would be a tough climb to the top, so I started pushing a little bit harder. Once I’d passed the hotspot I looked around and realised I was by myself,” said De Groot.
“I had to just keep pushing on and it really turned into a time-trial to the finish.”
The third round of the Nissan Trailseeker Gauteng Series comes to Curro College, Hazeldean, in Pretoria East on August 29.
For more news and results go to Trailseeker Series Gauteng #2 Lionman
