Nico Bell and Gawie Combrinck won the 99km opening stage of the Berg and Bush Descent, which took place in the Drakensberg area in KwaZulu-Natal today.
They were followed closely by Andrew Hill and Declan Sidey, five seconds later. Philip Buys and Matthys Beukes completed the top three.
Amy McDougall and Samantha Sanders led the women home, with Candice Lill and Vera Adrian in second and Carmen Buchacher and Michelle Vorster in third.
The first day of the Berg and Bush was won by Nico Bell and Gert Heyns. Photo: twitter.com
Provisional results for the day are as follows:
Stage one results
Men
1. Nico Bell, Gawie COmbrinck (NAD Pro MTB) 2:26:04
2. Andrew Hill, Declan Sidey (Bells Cycling Kabuki Breeders) 2:26:09
3. Philip Buys, Matthys Beukes (PYGA EuroSteel) 2:27:32
4. Wessel Botha, Henry Liebenberg (LCC Absolute Motion) 2:32:36
5. Michael Posthumus, Derrin Smith (William Simpson) 2:33:43
6. Andrew Duvenage, Craig Uria (NFB Spine and Sport) 2:34:45
7. Arno du Toit, Ben Melt Swanepoel (Garmin LCB Racing) 2:36:43
8. Matthew Stematis, Thomas Jessop (Home Ice Cream) 2:36:58
9. Leeroy Emslie, Reinhard Zellhuber (Think360 Garrun Insurance) 2:42:37
10. Julian Jessop, Phillimon Sebona (PYGA EuroSteel 2) 2:45:25
Women
1. Amy McDougall, Samantha Sanders (Valencia Ladies) 2:36:48
2. Candice Lill, Vera Adrian (dormakaba) 2:41:35
3. Carmen Buchacher, Michelle Vorster (Velocity Sports Lab Pro) 2:48:50
4. Yolandi du Toit, Theresa Ralph (Garmin Galileo Risk) 2:54:01
5. Chriestie-Leigh Hearder, Courteney Webb (Absolute Motion Ladies) 3:13:51
6. Janine Rawlinson, Lise Olivier (Dominator) 3:20:56
7. Hannele Steyn, Kayja Steenkamp (Team Enjoy) 3:25:54
8. Michel Coetzer, Kylene Weyers (The Dirty Blondes) 3:40:57
9. Michelle Powell, Michelle Schlebusch (Michelle Squared) 4:00:40
10. Stephanie Faul, Ulande Viljoen (Baggies and Beer) 4:21:48
Mixed team
1. Darryn Purtell, Hayley Smith (Bell Equipment) 2:59:14
2. Candice Parker Dennison, Wesley Parker-Dennison (Got Turbo) 3:14:38
3. Colleen de Oliveira, Julien Louw (MTBSkills) 3:15:35
4. Riaan Booysen, Debbie Stott (Stott and Booysen) 3:18:48
5. Megan Carmichael, Duncan Carmichael (Institute of Healthy Ageing) 3:19:19
6. Tanya Hartley, Andrew Terwin (Andrew and Tanya) 3:22:21
7. Debrah Thomas, Lindokuhle Mbhele (#We Ride 4 Burry Stander) 3:22:54
8. Douwene Cartwright, David Greyling (Team Dinga) 3:24:55
9. Francois Kemp, Marle Kotze (Actop Asphalt) 3:26:35
10. Stuart Gower-Jackson, Sam Gower-Jackson (The G-J’s) 3:27:02
Solo
1. Pieter Bezuidenhout 3:03:19
2. Tienie Prinsloo 3:16:49
3. Willie Berhardt 3:18:15
4. Muller Burger 3:40:05
5. Carol Theron 4:12:06
