Waylon Woolcock and HB Kruger showed their strength on the climb to win the second stage of the PwC Great Zuurberg Trek mountain bike race today.
Starting and finishing at the Zuurberg Mountain Village, just outside Port Elizabeth, the BCX pair took control at the 50km mark when they broke away from their rivals up a major ascent of the queen stage to create a decent buffer going into the final day.
Woolcock and Kruger, who won the three-day Winelands Encounter last month, came home in 3:16:14 for a general classification time of 5:56:21.
In second place are Gert Heyns and Arno du Toit (Ascendis-LCB), who finished in 3:18:54 for an overall time of 6:00:30.
Waylon Woolcock of BCX leads teammate HB Kruger after the final waterpoint on stage two of the PwC Great Zuurberg Trek mountain bike race outside Port Elizabeth today. Photo: Full Stop Communications
Andrew Hill and Marco Joubert (TIB Insurance-Momsen Bikes Valley Light) are third after their time of 3:21:31 gave them an overall time of 6:03:33.
Kruger said they tried to put some pressure in the first part of the route as there were several ascents in the early stages.
“But we also knew we had to save some legs for later on where it would count,” he said.
Although they opened a lead, Heyns and Du Toit closed the gap at the top of the second waterpoint, with Hill and Joubert not far behind.
Yolande de Villiers (left) and Neill Ungerer of Dryland-Ultimate Cycling dominated the mixed section on stage two of the PwC Great Zuurberg Trek mountain bike race outside Port Elizabeth today. Photo: Shayne Minott
From the 30km mark to 50km, Kruger said they rode together, sharing the pace-making.
When they hit a rough climb on the section past Ann’s Villa, he said they decided to make a move, with Woolcock going hard and Kruger staying on his wheel.
Their rivals could not stay with them and although Kruger suffered a tumble on the way down, they stayed focused until the end.
Following the queen stage, Kruger said everyone would be feeling a bit tired, including them, but they would be ready for the final challenge tomorrow.
Siska van der Bijl (left) and Annie Davids of GZT-Pedigree celebrate victory on stage two of the PwC Great Zuurberg Trek mountain bike race outside Port Elizabeth today. Photo: Shayne Minott
“Having that buffer is a big mental boost and the fact that we were able to ride away from the guys in the last 30km was also good for us,” he said.
Heyns and Du Toit said they were just unable to match their opponents on the final major climb.
“It was a good day of racing on a very nice route,” said Heyns. “We managed to hang on until the last climb when Waylon and HB were just too strong.”
Neill Ungerer and Yolande de Villiers (Dryland-Ultimate Cycling) stayed on top in the mixed category with a finishing time of 3:52:38, putting them on 6:55:04 overall.
In the women’s section, GZT-Pedigree’s Siska van der Bijl and Annie Davids crossed the line in 3:45:44 to lead the overall standings on 8:40:26.
