A competitive men’s line-up is expected for this year’s three-day sani2c Race starting in the southern Drakensburg tomorrow.
The race is wide open, especially after last year’s champion partnership of PYGA Euro Steel’s Matthys Beukes and Philip Buys had to end due to Buys falling ill and out of contention.
PYGA Euro Steel’s Philip Buys (left) and Matthys Beukes won the final stage of sani2c and the overall title last year. Photo: Anthony Grote
Beukes will now team up with promising youngster Julian Jessop. The pair have already proven their worth, winning the African jersey at the Cape Epic over a month ago.
Beukes rode to a comfortable victory in the solo category at the seven-stage joBerg2c last week and he will be targeting a hat-trick of sani2c victories this weekend.
PYGA Euro Steel will have a second team providing back-up in the race in the form of Phillimon Sebona and Pieter du Toit.
Another team sending two pairs, NAD Pro, should also pose a threat throughout the race. The team – consisting of Matt Beers, Nico Bell and Gawie Combrinck – have also had many successes this season.
Their fourth rider, however, Wessel Botha has fallen ill. Bell and Beers will pair up in the first team, with Combrinck teaming up with Breedenet’s Barend Burger as a guest rider in the second.
Beers and Bell teamed up at the gruelling four-stage Tankwa Trek in February, where they finished fourth overall in an international field, ahead of Combrinck and Botha in fifth.
The team also had successes on the road, with Beers winning the Mpumalanga Tour in January, as teammates Combrinck finished third, Bell fourth and Botha eighth.
Bell and Combrinck finished first and second respectively in the opening Trailseeker Series event in Buffelsdrift last weekend.
DSV’s Arno du Toit and Gert Heyns are expected to pose a big threat as well, with their form still simmering after coming out trumps in the Winelands MTB Encounter a month ago. Du Toit won the mixed category with Amy McDougall at the joBerg2c last week.
Team TiB-Silverback’s Andrew Hill and Shaun-Nick Bester are likely to be the dark horses of the race.
Hill eased to overall victory in the solo category of the four-stage PE Plett just over two months ago, with Bester having won the team race alongside Declan Sidey. Bester also finished third in the Trailseeker Series event last weekend.
Hill last year paired up with Jessop in the sani2c and they managed a top-5 finish. Combinations this time-round could prove telling.
Team dormakaba SA’s Amy McDougall and Samantha Sanders are the clear-cut favourites to take the spoils in the women’s field.
