Ila Stow went into the Origin of Trails mountain bike race in Stellenbosch over the weekend with the objective of testing herself on the challenging terrain.
In the end she won the two-day race, finishing milliseconds ahead of Marleen Lourens overall.
The 28-year-old took second place on day one, crossing the finish just over two minutes behind Louise Ferreira, who topped the podium in 3:05:16. Lourens completed the podium in 3:07:07, just two seconds behind Stow.
Origin of Trails winner Ila Stow was full of praise for the Stellenbosch event. Photo: Tobias Ginsberg
On day two, it was Stow and Lourens who led the stage until the finish, with the latter winning by less than two seconds to move into second overall behind Stow.
Ferreira fell out of the top 10, while Tanya Rabie moved into third in the general classification.
“Winning wasn’t exactly on the cards,” said Stow, “but riding against Marleen was such a treat. We had a lot of fun out there and the win was really rewarding at the end.”
Stow said both stages (55km and 58km) were quite challenging.
“The route might have been too difficult for fun riders, because the trails were generally rather technical. There were a lot of long climbs and the racing was rather tough.
“The terrain was also challenging at times, but the ride was really enjoyable and worth the effort.”
The Capetonian, who finished second overall in the mixed category of the recent Wines2Wales, said she would now shift her focus to the UCI MTB World Cup race in Stellenbosch next year.
“I’ve pretty much done every race on the calendar this year, so I know what most events are like.
“In 2018 I want to get more into cross-country, especially with the World Cup race coming up in March. I’ve got enough points to qualify, so I’d like to participate and see how I feature.
“It’s very exciting to have that event coming to South Africa and it will be a privilege to be a part of it. It will also be amazing for the public to come and see what mountain biking is all about.”
The men’s section of the Origin of Trails was won by Renay Groustra, who made his return to competitive racing after putting cycling on the back burner for most of the year.
