Gert Heyns, who won the Cape Pioneer Trek four years ago alongside last year’s winner Matthys Beukes, is aiming for another successful result when he lines up for the event in Mossel Bay on Sunday.
The DSV rider, who also competed in 2013 when he placed seventh overall, will tackle the seven-day mountain-bike event which finishes in Oudtshoorn alongside DSV teammate Arno du Toit.
“The goal would definitely be to win it again. Arno and I make a great team and would definitely like to put on a good show,” said the 26-year-old, who finished third overall with Du Toit at this year’s sani2c.
Heyns added that he was expecting a very enjoyable race and was particularly looking forward to the route.
Gert Heyns (pictured) will tackle this year’s Cape Pioneer Trek, which starts in Mossel Bay on Sunday, alongside Arno du Toit. Photo: Gustav Klotz
“I like the route. It seems like a good mix between longer days and shorter, more intensive days,” said Heyns, who hails from George.
“I know the area quite well and I’m excited to ride there again. The route tends to be slightly more technically challenging than most of the local stage races, but I think that should suit us.”
He said their overall strategy would be to take the race one day at a time.
“We’d obviously like to do well in all the stages but we’ll aim to be consistent throughout.”
Heyns felt his partnership with Du Toit worked because they knew each other well and had quite often raced together.
“We have a general sense of how the other is feeling. Our roles are pretty similar, but we’ll just adjust them according to our strengths on the day.
“We’re confident that we’re well prepared and we will be playing our cards close to our chest when it comes to our tactics.”
He said it was a pity defending champions Philip Buys and Beukes could not compete this year as they were at the UCI MTB Marathon World Champs in Switzerland.
“I always enjoy racing against them. In 2015 when I rode with Matthys Arno rode with Philip, so it would’ve actually been fun to race against them at the same event.
“There will undoubtedly still be a lot of competition this year,” he added.
Heyns said the event was one of his main goals for the second half of the year, and due to his not having competed in it for the past few years he was hungry to make a successful comeback.
“Both of us are really excited to race,” he said.
