Stuart Marais was delighted to have defended his title at the Eston MTB Challenge in KwaZulu-Natal yesterday, a race he described as “always a big one on the calendar”.
Marais soloed to victory to complete the 60km race in 2:22:01, beating Tyronne White into second place by almost six-and-a-half minutes.
The race holds slight sentimental value for Marais. “Eston has been carrying on for years and I remember doing it when I was a ‘laaitie’, before I even started studying,” he said.
“I’ve been doing this race for a long time and I’ve always wanted to win it and to have won it now twice in a row was great.”
Stuart Marais (pictured) was delighted to have defended his title at the Eston MTB Challenge in KwaZulu-Natal yesterday. Photo: Tim Whitfield/Sports Wrighte
Marais, who was recently sponsored by Expedient Africa/Moving Parts Tractor Spares, said generally the Eston event was “very tactical”, meaning he had to play his cards carefully right from the outset.
“There is a three-kilometre King of the Mountain challenge at the start of the race and the contest usually comes down to a sprint finish,” he said.
“My idea was to have a proper warm-up and then go as hard as I could right from the gun before the KOM.
“At the top of the climb Andrew [Hill] and I were leading, about 40 seconds ahead of the chasers.”
They decided to work together to maintain their lead. “Andrew and I just kept pushing and the gap eventually opened up.
“Once you get out of sight from the bunch, it is actually quite easy to stay away – that’s when riders lose the carrot.”
After coming out of a single-track section Marais then created a 10- to 15-metre lead over Hill, before Hill suffered an unfortunate mechanical.
“I didn’t realise it, but his seat post broke,” Marais said. “So when I looked back there was suddenly no one behind me.
“I ended up riding by myself for the rest of the race; then it was just about limiting my losses.
“I didn’t really have any challenges and I felt quite strong the whole way through. It was really nice to have a clean race without any issues,” he said. Hill eventually finished fourth following his mechanical setback.
Marais was happy with his form at this stage of the season, after having won a race in Botswana the previous weekend and backing it up with the Eston victory yesterday.
“The SA cross-country champs [three weeks ago] didn’t go according to plan as I would have hoped, but the last two races showed I do have some form.
“I feel quite strong at the moment and it’s just about giving it your all on the day.”
Marais’s next major race will be the Mandela Day MTB Dash on August 25.
He then hopes to make a decision on whether he will be able to take part in the UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships in Italy on September 15, with his decision depending on whether he can get enough funding.
