Road specialist Craig Boyes enjoyed an unexpected victory at the Karoo to Coast mountain-bike race, which started in Uniondale and finished in Knysna today.
Boyes, who mainly plies his trade on the road and has already won the Western Province Winter League with two races to spare, completed the 96km event in 3:22:17, beating Matthew Keyser in the final sprint.
Waylon Woolcock got home in third a further 10 seconds back.
Road specialist Craig Boyes (front) enjoyed an unexpected victory at the Karoo to Coast mountain-bike race today. Photo: Oakpics.com
However Boyes, who rides for Specialized Bikes, remained humble in victory and counted himself “lucky” for the win.
“The result was quite unexpected; I definitely didn’t think it was going to play out this way,” Boyes told In the Bunch today.
“I definitely don’t think I was the strongest out there today – Matthew and Waylon were unbelievably strong – so I just had to hold on for a quite while.
“Waylon has so much experience – having ridden as a pro for about 17 years – and Matthew is young and strong. I have the utmost respect for both of them.
“I will definitely call it [winning] lucky, but nevertheless I was super stoked to win – it is a very prestigious event,” he said, adding that he participated in the race “a few times before”, but had never even finished on the podium.
The race saw approximately 4 500 riders take part – both men and women – and is deemed as the biggest numerical one-day mountain-bike race in South Africa.
He felt that his road tactics might have played to his advantage on the day. “Racing on the road teaches you different tactics like where to sit and not to overspend when you’re feeling a bit tired.
“In the last 30km I spoke to Waylon [his Specialized teammate] and we worked and rode together – he knew I was in a bit of a tough spot after I got dropped going over the Simola climb.
“Waylon attacked first and Matthew followed and I didn’t have the legs [to keep up] because I had a cramp. I was lucky enough to bridge over to them as we hit one of the tar roads.
“Heading into the last part of the race Waylon asked me how I wanted the sprint and I said that I wanted it ‘as short as possible’.”
Woolcock then went ahead and Keyser followed his wheel, before the latter got the jump in the final parts of the race.
“Unfortunately for him [Keyser], he went a bit wide going onto the field and I managed to just get past. I knew I could back my sprint, but in the condition that I was, I didn’t think I would be fast,” Boyes recalled.
Boyes only cycles part-time, about two hours every day, he said, and he is currently the store manager of Specialized Stellenbosch.
Due to his lack of training, Boyes said the distance of the race was a challenge on the day.
“I knew going into the three-hour mark that the last hour would be hard,” he said. “Climbing is also not my strongest point; I can ride a flat road really well and I can ride technically.
“Those were definitely some challenges – the time and distance and managing how I eat and preserve myself.
“Nevertheless, it was a great event and I’m super happy to walk away with the win.”
Boyes will next take part in the last two WP Winter League races, before he turns his main focus to work, where he expects some different challenges.
“I race more as a hobby,” he said. “I don’t do it professionally; I do it more because I enjoy it.”
