South Africa’s Nico Bell and Gawie Combrinck had a rewarding and fruitful experience at the seven-day La Leyenda del Dorado in Colombia, where they finished fifth overall on Saturday.
“Colombia was a new experience for us and even though there weren’t a lot of UCI competitors we still raced against world-class guys on a challenging route,” said Bell.
Switzerland’s Christoph Sauser extended the invitation to race in the South American country after the NAD Pro pair rode as back-up for him and teammate Jaroslav Kulhavý at last year’s Cape Epic.
“It was like a gift from Christoph and it was nice for us to experience a new challenge and race in a different country,” said Bell.
South Africa’s Nico Bell and Gawie Combrinck, who ride for the NAD Pro MTB team, placed fifth overall when the seven-day La Leyenda del Dorado concluded in Colombia on Saturday. Photo: Nicolás Gonzalez
“We were meant to do it last year but things just didn’t work out,” added Combrinck.
Bell said their aim was to achieve a top-10 result and they managed to finish on the podium in the first stage.
After that he suffered a stomach bug twice that made it difficult for him to recover, especially given the amount of climbing they had to do and the dehydration he experienced.
“If we were healthy throughout then we would’ve been able to do it again, but those stages were just about getting to the finish.”
Combrinck added that they rode within themselves and tried not to make mistakes and lose time with mechanicals.
Bell felt the race in general was very challenging and the fact that they were riding at altitude played a key role.
“Towards the end of the race you go up to about 2 500m and then down, before climbing to about 4 000m, so the air gets quite thin. Stage two and five were the most challenging.
“It was raining a lot and very muddy with a lot of climbing. The mud was so thick that you had to get off and walk.”
He added that with the 9km cross-country circuit on stage three he felt like he was crawling as slowly as he could just to finish the three laps and recover for the start on the next day.
For Combrinck, the 49km prologue was a “shock to the system” as they were not used to climbs and descents that steep.
Gawie Combrinck after finishing fifth overall when the La Leyenda del Dorado finished in Colombia on Saturday. Photo: Nicolás Gonzalez
Both riders praised their accommodation situations, saying that they stayed in hotels and resorts throughout the week.
“The food in every village was different, but usually they keep it basic with a lot of rice and chicken.
“A lot of times you weren’t allowed to drink the water, but when you ride in the rain and through towns it sprays in your face so you don’t know what bug you can pick up,” said Bell.
Combrinck said he enjoyed the passion and support of the people the most, as well as the “spectacular climbs and views”.
“I learnt to pace myself better at elevation and also to ride super steep climbs and descents.”
He added that they felt happy with their result as it was in line with what they wanted to achieve at the event.
“We raced some strong teams, but everyone had problems at some stage with mechanicals or illness. It’s all about how you handle that. We just pushed through and enjoyed ourselves.”
Summary of stage results
Prologue (49km: Manizales to La Rochela)
7th (2:12:34)
Stage one (70km: La Rochela to La Rochela)
3rd (3:05:12); 5th overall (5:17:46)
“It was quite wet with a lot of rain. We were dropped on the first very steep climb and caught a lot of teams on the rough downhill. Guys were puncturing and crashing. It was quite similar to racing in Sabie in the summer,” said Combrinck.
“From there we did the 20km climb pretty much on our own and also caught more teams towards the final part.”
Stage two (97km: La Rochela to Salamina)
5th (5:03:16); 5th overall (10:21:02)
“It started flat and fast where we rode up a valley. After that we hit a 14km mud bath next to a railway track. You were swimming, hitting puddles or running trough knee-deep mud,” said Combrinck.
“After that you just hit a wall you had to climb up and we did about 2 500m of climbing in the last 40km. There were a lot of walking parts also as it was just too steep and muddy to ride up. For sure one of the hardest stages I’ve done.”
Stage three (9km: Salamina to Salamina)
14th (1:41:30); 6th overall (12:02:32)
“Nico and I had a stomach bug. It was a short 9km loop we had to do three times. It had lots of very steep short hills followed by a tricky muddy singletrack. We took it easy and just finished that day and tried to recover.”
Stage four (75km: Salamina to Neira)
6th (3:38:08); 6th overall (15:40:41)
“It was by far the nicest stage. We were in the second group after the first steep climb. From there I just set a pace that Nico could keep as he was still suffering with his bug,” said Combrinck.
“The climbs were more gradual and the views were spectacular. Also every town had all their villagers out in support and it gave it almost a Tour de France feel.”
Stage five (108km: Termales del Otono to Termales del Otono)
4th; 5th overall (21:47:40)
“We were just crawling. It started with a 10km climb then we went up the volcano that is another 30km climb that tops out at 4 000m.
“Nico just rode within himself and as the elevation got higher we caught a few teams that started too hard. From there there was a 30km descent followed by another 10km climb back home. This was a long day.”
Stage six (29km: Termales del Otono to Manizales)
5th (1:22:11); 5th overall (23:09:51)
“The last day was short, but still had two long climbs that were super steep. We were fifth and just missed out on moving up to fourth on GC,” said Combrinck.
