Hanco Kachelhoffer and Pieter Seyffert won the Sanlam MTB Invitational two-stage mountain bike race at Rhebokskloof near Paarl today.
The ASG duo, competing as a regular team for the last time, took a lead of just under six minutes into the second stage after winning the 60km opening stage on Saturday.
Pieter Seyffert (ASG) leads the way during his win with team-mate Hanco Kachelhoffer in the Sanlam MTB Invitational near Paarl today. Photo: Warren Elsom/Capcha
They finished the 40km second stage just five seconds behind stage winners Bennie Viljoen and Jaco Davel (ASG), meaning the cushion they built on the opening day was enough to earn them the overall honours.
Kachelhoffer and Seyffert won with an overall time of 4:37:33, ahead of Viljoen and Davel (4:43:16) and Flandria’s Linus and Leonardo van Onselen (4:50:18).
With his acceptance of a new position in the retail side of the sport Kachelhoffer said they were delighted to finish their partnership on a special note.
“Pieter will be looking for a new partner on a regular basis next year, although we will still be doing a few races together,” said the 31-year-old, who lived in Johannesburg and George before moving to Paarl last month to open a cycling concept store.
“It’s also nice to start a new chapter with a good result and to finish the year with a win.”
Reflecting on today’s stage, he said their lead of 5:48 allowed a more relaxed approach early on.
“Today was quite short and we took control of the race early on by setting the tempo on the first climb,” said Kachelhoffer. “We have also learnt that it is best to not push too hard when you have a lead and better to keep yourself fresh for the technical downhill sections.”
Davel and Viljoen took the lead going into the decisive single-track section with about 10km to go but Kachelhoffer and Seyffert stayed on their wheel to finish a few seconds off the pace.
Kachelhoffer said going into the race, which is presented by ASG Events, their aim was to finish on the podium and to “possibly win”.
“Pieter is a fulltime professional so he was here for only one reason and that was to win. I had to try to hold on and just managed to do that.”
He said he had found the route of the Sanlam MTB Invitational, which evolved from a one-day event, quite challenging.
“There was a long testing climb at the start today, but they have also done a good job with the new single-track right on the edge of that cliff.
“I thought at the time that if I had a fear of heights this might be a little intimidating, but we never complain about too much single-track so overall it was a great challenge.”
The women’s race was won by Girls On Bikes’s Karla Groenewald and Sylma Jordaan in 6:44:38, with the mixed category going to Enduro Hub’s Tiaan Pretorius and Jenny Close in 5:26:05.
