A late entry into the National MTB Series by Brendon Davids saw the road ace take first place on day one of the series, which took place at Champagne Sports Resort in the Drakensberg today.
After an aggressive start to the fourth round it was Davids up front with Matthys Beukes and Max Knox before the RoadCover rider dropped the pair after 7km, leaving them to fall in with Nico Bell, Matt Beers and Gawie Combrink.
Brendon Davids, pictured here at Hill2Hill, won day one of the fourth round of the National MTB Series in the Drakensberg today. Photo: Liam Whitfield
“I didn’t think my lead would hold and I was hoping that someone else would ride across to join the gap and eventually it was Philip Buys who bridged it 20km in,” said Davids, who recently won the Polokwane Annual Mayoral Cycle Race.
A game of cat and mouse followed as Davids continued to apply the pressure, with Buys chasing 30 seconds behind.
“I kept pressing hard and eventually the elastic snapped with about 15km to go,” said Davids.
“I wasn’t sure if he was holding anything back, but at a climb around halfway through Philip made contact with me on one of the descents and when I flicked my elbow at him to roll through, he didn’t.
“I took that as an indication that he was a little tired and I put in my next attack on the following climb to open up more of a gap between us.”
From there Davids was home and away as he continued to put distance between himself and Buys and eventually finished three minutes ahead of the PYGA Euro Steel rider.
“When we go through to race you ride to win, but it wasn’t on the front of my mind today,” said the 947 Cycle Challenge winner, who added his victory had been a pleasant surprise.
The 23-year-old, who came through with his teammate Bradley Potgieter, said he only made the decision to enter late on Thursday evening as he hoped to use the event as a training event.
“There’s no road racing at the moment so we came through for some fun,” said Davids.
“I’m not putting any pressure on myself for tomorrow so whatever comes I’ll be happy with.”
