Andrew Hill and Shaun-Nick Bester won stage two of joBerg2c in Reitz, Free State, today.
The Darkhorse Wheels-Insured by TIB pair finished the 93km race in 3:18:49 to beat Sylvains’ Julian Gavillet and his teammate (3:29:38). Third over the line were Sage Racing’s Luke Evans and Craig Uria (3:29:51).
Hill said today’s stage was flat with not a lot of climbing and that they only went clear with solo riders Matthys Beukes and HB Kruger at the first waterpoint.
“We rode with them until the second waterpoint, which was around the 62km mark. We stopped to refuel while the other two kept on riding.”
Thereafter, the pair continued to ride a steady pace until the end to take the victory.
In the women’s race Galileo Risk’s Sarah Hill and Theresa Ralph claimed victory in 3:40:36. Second were Seattle Speed’s Auralia Edwards and Gina Wills (4:32:15) with Hakuna Matata’s Marlene Andersen and Kirsten Engsig Jensen (4:32:29) rounding out the podium.
(Sarah) Hill said afterwards the stage started “quite fast”.
“Soon after the neutral start two groups formed. Theresa and I just missed the boat for the front bunch, so we rode hard with the chasing group.”
Around 10km they were riding with two solo men’s riders. “We were powering at a really good fast pace, but not too hard as we know there are still six more days to go”, she said.
They were caught by “a strong group of men’s teams” just after waterpoint one, which was about 30km into the race.
“We hung on all the way until waterpoint two and decided to stop and refuel, causing the group to split.”
From there, Hill and Ralph held a consistent pace until the end.
“My teammate Theresa set the pace for 90% of today. She was making sure we were hanging on to the right groups, and ensuring we didn’t go too hard.”
She added that they constantly stayed in communication to make sure they were within their limits at all time.
Dormakaba’s Michael Posthumus and Amy McDougall won the mixed event in 3:29:53. Garmin’s Ben Melt Swanepoel and Yolandi du Toit (3:51:47) placed second and were followed by Ekibike-Dupasquier Sports’ Overney Corinne and Vincent Flueck (4:11:18).
Matthys Beukes (3:12:54) secured the honours in the solo men’s race. Second was HB Kruger (3:12:55) followed by Sylvain Ecoffey (3:29:37).
Sandra Hart led the women’s race home in 4:06:13. She finished ahead of Monica Glover (4:20:12) and Yvette Roberts (4:28:02).
Andrew Hill and Shaun-Nick Bester won stage two of joBerg2c Reitz, Free State, today. Pictured were riders during yesterday’s neutral stage. Photo: Kevin Sawyer/joberg2c
More results can be viewed below.
Stage two results
Men’s teams
1. Andrew Hill & Shaun-Nick Bester (Darkhorse Wheels-Insured by TIB) 3:18:49
2. Julian Gavillet & Ecoffey Sylvain (Sylvains Team) 3:29:38
3. Luke Evans & Craig Uria (Sage Racing) 3:29:51
4. Gerrie Beukes & Johan Labuschagne (Cool Beans) 3:39:04
5. Shannon Frost & Kevin Evans (The Bike Shop-Strocam Mining) 3:40:50
Women’s teams
1. Sarah Hill & Theresa Ralph (Galileo Risk) 3:40:36
2. Auralia Edwards & Gina Wills (Seattle Speed) 4:32:15
3. Marlene Andersen & Kirsten Engsig Jensen (Hakuna Matata) 4:32:29
4. Brenda Potts & Erika Velissariou (Ditzy Chicks) 5:12:07
5. Hanlie Snyman & Aretha Eksteen (Food Lovers) 5:16:31
Mixed teams
1. Michael Posthumus & Amy McDougall (dormakaba Mixed) 3:29:53
2. Ben Melt Swanepoel & Yolandi du Toit (Garmin) 3:51:47
3. Overney Corinne & Vincent Flueck (Ekibike-Dupasquier Sports) 4:11:18
4. Amy van Zuydam & Wessel Burger (Frib Mixed) 4:20:44
5. Estelle Gous & Gerhard Strydom (Team X) 4:28:27
Solo men
1. Matthys Beukes 3:12:54
2. HB Kruger 3:12:55
3. Sylvain Ecoffey 3:29:37
4. Philip Buys 3:33:59
5. Riaan Weideman 3:39:13
6. Mark Vennix 3:39:52
7. Deon van Vuuren 3:46:16
8. Tom Lemmens 3:47:21
9. Kristof Sterckx 3:47:23
10. Kristof De Neys 3:47:23
Solo women
1. Sandra Hart 4:06:13
2. Monica Glover 4:20:12
3. Yvette Roberts 4:28:02
4. Ann Olivier 4:40:28
5. Caroline Francis 4:47:03
6. Yolanda Witteveen 4:50:20
7. Ester Soriano 5:01:54
8. Tracy Watcham 5:02:04
9. Heidi Gugliotta 5:07:03
10. Nadine Klopper 5:11:16
General classification
Men’s teams
1. Andrew Hill & Shaun-Nick Bester (Darkhorse Wheels-Insured by TIB) 8:18:01
2. Julian Gavillet & Ecoffey Sylvain (Sylvains Team) 8:28:50
3. Luke Evans & Craig Uria (Sage Racing) 8:29:03
4. Gerrie Beukes & Johan Labuschagne (Cool Beans) 8:38:16
5. Shannon Frost & Kevin Evans (The Bike Shop-Strocam Mining) 8:40:02
Women’s teams
1. Sarah Hill & Theresa Ralph (Galileo Risk) 8:39:48
2. Auralia Edwards & Gina Wills (Seattle Speed) 9:31:27
3. Marlene Andersen & Kirsten Engsig Jensen (Hakuna Matata) 9:31:41
4. Brenda Potts & Erika Velissariou (Ditzy Chicks) 10:11:19
5. Hanlie Snyman & Aretha Eksteen (Food Lovers) 10:15:43
Mixed teams
1. Michael Posthumus & Amy McDougall (dormakaba Mixed) 8:29:05
2. Ben Melt Swanepoel & Yolandi du Toit (Garmin) 8:50:59
3. Overney Corinne & Vincent Flueck (Ekibike-Dupasquier Sports) 9:10:30
4. Amy van Zuydam & Wessel Burger (Frib Mixed) 9:19:56
5. Estelle Gous & Gerhard Strydom (Team X) 9:27:39
Solo men
1. Matthys Beukes 8:12:06
2. HB Kruger 8:12:07
3. Sylvain Ecoffey 8:28:49
4. Philip Buys 8:33:11
5. Riaan Weideman 8:38:25
6. Mark Vennix 8:39:04
7. Deon van Vuuren 8:45:28
8. Tom Lemmens 8:46:33
9. Kristof Sterckx 8:46:33
10. Kristof De Neys 8:46:35
Solo women
1. Sandra Hart 9:05:25
2. Monica Glover 9:19:24
3. Yvette Roberts 9:27:14
4. Ann Olivier 9:39:40
5. Caroline Francis 9:46:15
6. Yolanda Witteveen 9:49:32
7. Ester Soriano 10:01:06
8. Tracy Watcham 10:01:16
9. Heidi Gugliotta 10:06:15
10. Nadine Klopper 10:10:28
