Matthys Beukes walked away from his first Trailseeker Series race empty-handed after a wrong turn cost him the race victory in Grabouw.
Beukes and Gert Heyns led the race – the second round of the Western Cape Trailseeker Series – until a misleading trail marker 5km from the finish sent them onto a dirt road instead of a stretch of single-track en route to the finish.
“Gert knew the route and he knew about the single-track that we were supposed to take, but the markings were unclear and showed that we should go onto the dirt road instead, which is what we did,” said Beukes.
“He and I ended up going the wrong way. Matt (Beers) did the same, but he realised early enough and turned around.”
Matthys Beukes in action during the Trailseeker Series in Grabouw yesterday. Photo: Daniel Coetzee (Zoon Cronje Marketing Consulting)
The PYGA Euro Steel rider said it was “very unfortunate”.
“There was some confusion and in the end I was disqualified.”
What made the loss more painful was the fact that he had a similar experience during the National MTB Series race in Grabouw earlier this season.
On that occasion, a double marker meant he had a 50/50 chance of making a correct split-second decision as to which direction to go, but, unfortunately, his decision turned out to be the wrong one.
“I was in the lead as I’d managed to get a small gap on Christoph Sauser, Max Knox and Alan Hatherly, but I went the wrong way and that cost me the race.”
Beukes said he was disappointed that the result had come down to a decision by the commissaires.
“They don’t know what the situation was at that stage. We, as the riders, feel the race had been decided at that point and nothing could have affected the results.
“I would have won, Gert would have been second and Matt would have been third. That was quite clear and everyone seemed to agree on that.”
The 67km race had been a game of leapfrog between Beukes, Heyns and Beers as they took turns to attack without managing to break the resolve of the others.
“Throughout the race Gert and I would get away from Matt, then he’d catch up, then I’d break away from both of them and then we’d come back together,” said Beukes.
“Then, on the final climb, I made my final break and got away. There’s no point saying what would have happened, but everyone agreed that’s how it would have finished.”
