Victory in the Trans Baviaans “Repeat” came as a welcome surprise for Gawie Combrinck and teammate Gerrit de Vries.
Both made their debut in the 230km mountain-bike marathon that ended in Jeffreys Bay yesterday.
“It was quite unexpected,” said Combrinck.
Gawie Combrinck (pictured) and Gerrit de Vries won the Trans Baviaans “Repeat” in Jeffreys Bay yesterday. Photo: Nicolás Gonzalez
“Gerritt had a goal-time he wanted to do it in and we were aiming for that. Neither of us had done it before and didn’t know what to expect.”
The pair finished two minutes ahead of their nearest rivals, Garth Ennion and Wesley Lentz. Jan-Paul Gerber and Vickus Boshoff finished a further two minutes back.
Combrinck, who won the 167km Race to the Sun in May, said he felt quite tired afterwards but happy to have crossed the line.
“It was for sure the longest we’ve been on a bike.”
He said due to the strong headwind the riders were reluctant to do any more work than was necessary during the race.
“I know how hard I can ride and did most of the pacing on the flats and I told Gerrit to save as much energy as possible.
“After the second checkpoint [93km in] it split up and we, along with Garth and Wesley, were the front two teams. From there it was just survival up Bergplaas.
“We got a gap going up Neverender [at 195km] and stayed away from that point.”
Combrinck said a challenge for them was their unfamiliarity with the route.
“We didn’t quite know the route and were scared of getting lost so we waited for the second team at checkpoint two to make sure we were on the right route.
“It was windy and bumpy but I’m quite good at long endurance events and [I know] measuring your effort is very important.”
He said the top five teams were all strong and conserved a lot of energy by sitting during the first 100km.
“Like I said, we were aiming for a goal-time more than winning, but we had a good race with the team that finished second.”
The 33-year-old, who retired from professional cycling in April, said life had been great since hanging up his wheels.
“I’m doing more events that didn’t always fit into my racing calendar before as well as more rides for fun without intervals.”
