Brendan van Eeden won the Eston MTB Challenge in Eston, KwaZulu-Natal, at the weekend. Photo: Trailseeker Series
Brendan van Eeden outduelled three-time champion Stuart Marais in the final sprint to win the Eston MTB Challenge near Pietermaritzburg on Saturday.
The Absolute Motion rider was competing in the 40km elite race for the first time, having moved to Hilton in KwaZulu-Natal from Potchefstroom two months ago.
The 32-year-old Marais (NanoTime) had virtually made the event his own in recent years and was chasing his fourth straight title in Eston.
Van Eeden, 20, said he sensed soon after the start that the champion was on a mission to win again.
“From early in the race he made his intentions clear and I decided to try to put the pressure on him at every chance I got,” he said.
“I kept attacking and eventually, at about the 8km mark, Stuart, Tyronne [White] and I broke away from the field.
“From there we went through some positive tactical racing all the way to the end and we knew it was coming down to a sprint finish.”
Marais led the way with a kilometre to go, with Van Eeden on his wheel and White tucked in just behind them.
“As we entered the arena, Stuart attacked for the final time and luckily a line opened up for me and I just went for it,” he said.
“With about 10km left I knew that it would come down to this so I began preparing myself mentally and fortunately a line opened up for me.”
In only his second year as an elite, Van Eeden was delighted with the result.
“It’s a big win for me and a really good experience at the age of 20,” he said.
His attention will now switch to the SA cross-country championships in Stellenbosch on November 7.
“That’s a big goal for me this year and I’m definitely going there with a podium expectation,” said Van Eeden.
