Matthys Beukes made it two wins from two weekends as he powered to victory at the Bosman Family Vineyards in Wellington in the third round of the TrailSeeker Series today.
Beukes, Gert Heyns, Walyon Woolock and Marco Joubert led the charge when the 66km marathon event started this morning.
PYGA’s Matthys Beukes continued his winning streak as he claimed victory at the third round of the TrailSeeker Series in the Western Cape today. Photo: Daniel Coetzee (Zoon Cronje Marketing Consulting)
Joubert, who was second in the overall standings, was the first to fall off the pace as he was dropped after roughly 25km.
Heyns was the first to break away away but a technical issue forced him to pause. This allowed Beukes to take full advantage of his misfortune and he took the lead.
“Eventually it was me and Gert in the lead and it was at the halfway point he had some issues. After that I just put my head down and went for it,” said Beukes.
The PYGA rider said he’d gone into the race with no expectations after driving through to from George the previous day.
“My legs were a little bit dead for the first half but I knew I just had to be patient and wait for them to revive.”
While waiting for the life to return to his legs, Beukes said he’d enjoyed the “spectacular” scenery along the route.
“The trails, scenery and some nice climbing really just made for the perfect route. I think it’s one of my favourite routes that I’ve ever done and the conditions were perfect.”
Beukes confirmed, however, that he would not start the final round of the series next month.
Heyns, who finished six minutes behind Beukes, said his technical issue had had little influence on the outcome of the race.
After stopping to remove a stick from his wheel, the Ascendis Health rider said he’d simply been unable to catch Beukes.
“After that I couldn’t catch Matthys again, he was really strong. I don’t think it would have changed the result. I know I’m in quite good form right now but Matthys is just a lot faster at the moment.”
Waylon Woolcock, pictured here winning the first round of the Western Cape TrailSeeker Series, believes the overall title could still be his. Photo: www.zcmc.co.za
Series leader Woolcock completed the podium after battling Heyns for second.
“It was a good quality field today,” said the BCX rider.
“I knew the biggest competition was always going to be Matthys, who’s been in really good form for a good while now, and also Gert Heyns and Marco Joubert.”
Finishing one minute behind Heyns, Woolcock confirmed he’d be at the final round next month and said he felt it was still possible to win the overall series.
“If Matthys and Gert are not at the last event then I just have to finish on the podium, or very close to it.
“Even if Matthys was at the last race, he’s only done two events. He did Grabouw but he got a DQ and in the first event Gert finished behind me.”
Like Beukes, Candice Lill took her second win in as many weeks as she left the competition far behind. She finished almost 15 minutes ahead of Carmen Buchacher and almost 20 minutes ahead of Courteney Webb.
