Phetetso Monese and Bruce Hughes (ACE Lesotho) took the 68km stage one of the Wines2Whales Ride from Lourensford Wine Estate to Oak Valley Wine Estate today.
They crossed the finish line in 3:07:39, followed by Lorenzo le Roux and Daniel Mannweiler (KAP Prochorus) in 3:12:23 and HP Odendaal and Daniel Carleton (Lantau Buffaloes) in 3:13:25.
Mountain bikers in action during stage one of the Wines2Whales Ride. Photo: Tobias Ginsberg
“We started out hard in a sizeable group. At the portage section we saw a gap and pushed hard over Gantouw. From there it was pretty much solo riding to the finish,” said Hughes.
Jana Kruger and Ilse Viljoen (Companero) are the team to beat in the women’s race, crossing the line in 4:07:59. Meike Aschenbroich and Inky Talbot (Sterri Stumpi & Beer) were second in 4:15:13, with Alta Kriegler and Sunette Beyers (Vergelegen) third in 4:17:40.
Russell Lund and Anneke Hanekom (Haaskat) crossed the finish line first in the mixed category in 3:37:03. Nicholas Webb and Kylie Hanekom (Bike Hub) finished second in 3:43:41, followed by Jeanie de Villiers and Piet Laubscher (Citricom 2) in 3:53:37.
Stage two, which will cover 64km and include 1 400m of climbing, will start and finish at Oak Valley Wine Estate in Elgin-Grabouw.
