Estonians Peeter Pruus and Peeter Tarvis won the 99km stage two of the Cape Pioneer Trek international mountain bike stage race in George yesterday.
Pruus, the European marathon champion, and Estonian marathon champion Tarvis, of Team KOMO/RMW, clocked a winning time of 3:45:58.
Estonians Peeter Pruus and Peeter Tarvis captured the stage win and closed the gap on the overall leaders on stage two of the Cape Pioneer Trek in George on Tuesday. Photo: www.zooncronje.com
They came within 13 seconds of the overall lead, held by Gawie Combrinck and Nico Bell (NAD Pro), who had to stop on numerous occasions with tyre problems, but still managed to finish second in 3:46:53.
There was a furious six-rider sprint for the final podium spot between Erik Groen and Jeroen Boelen (Stappenbelt Specialized), Konny Looser and Daniel Gathoff (Cape Brewing Co Elite.), and James Reid and Julian Jessop (Team Spur).
The Dutch pair of Groen and Boelen were awarded third after the finish-line photo was examined, their time being 3:48:03. Looser and Gathoff were fourth, and are still third overall, while Reid and Jessop were fifth.
“We were going to stay in the group at the beginning, but then we thought maybe we’ll try something on the long climb.
“But it turned out not to be much of a climb, even going downhill sometimes, so we stayed in the group almost until the third water point. Then I rode away with one solo rider,” said Tarvis.
The women’s race saw Cherie Redeker and Mariske Strauss (OMX Pro) extend their lead with a third consecutive stage win.
They clocked a time of 4:19:13, finishing ahead of Team Garmin’s Yolandi du Toit and Aurelie Halbwachs, who are second on the GC, just over 25 minutes down.
View more results here.
