Robyn de Groot and Amy McDougall capitalised on their closest rivals’ misfortune to take this year’s Wines2Whales Chardonnay title after a hard-fought battle through muddy conditions at Onrus yesterday.
The team of Candice Lill and Adelheid Morath, who led going into the final stage, suffered an unfortunate puncture just 10km from the line.
“We went into the final day with a minute and 34 seconds deficit so the pressure was definitely on,” said De Groot.
“It left us with one day to make up that difference. We knew we had to really put in an effort yesterday.”
Amy McDougall (left) and Robyn de Groot won the Wines2Whales Chardonnay after a hard-fought battle in Onrus yesterday. Photo: Henk Neuhoff
The dormakaba rider said they got a small gap going into the first waterpoint, which they opened up on a descent. From there on they worked hard and tried to stay away, but Lill and Morath reeled them in.
“We rode together and didn’t really see an opportunity to get away thereafter. We had spent quite a lot of energy to pull that gap.”
With 10km remaining, and as they hit the final waterpoint, De Groot said she noticed that Morath had pulled off the track with a potential puncture.
“I wasn’t sure, I just saw her pull off and I saw Candice also.
“Amy and I knew with 10km to the finish and a 1:34 deficit to make up, to win we needed to claim time as well, over and above that.
“We rode as hard as we could to the finish. It landed up being a successful day for us.”
De Groot said they felt happy they were able to apply pressure when it mattered.
“We had been racing aggressively yesterday as it was, and put in a big effort to get away which was already going to be difficult. Unfortunately for Candice and Adelheid a puncture didn’t play in their favour.
“We landed up winning by a minute, which we’re pretty happy with,” said De Groot, who won the Berg & Bush “Descent” alongside McDougall at the beginning of the month.
De Groot, who claimed her fourth Wines2Whales title, said another challenge was the weather, which was “hectic” over the weekend.
“All three days had pretty tough and testing conditions.
“It poured on Friday, so there was a lot of water on the course. The next day it ended up being clear, but because of the downpour it was just mud, which I think was trickier to ride in.
“There were a lot of times when you felt a little bit out of control.”
She added that yesterday it was still muddy and there were some sections still flooded with water.
“What helped us make up time was that we were aggressive and kept the pressure going.
“We also had to capitalise on a bit of misfortune, which is always unfortunate and never nice to have to do, but it is part of mountain biking.”
