Philip Buys took the honours in the third leg of the Pursuit Challenge at Buffelsdrift Trail Park Photo: Hayden Brown
Top South African mountain biker Philip Buys got his 2021 season off to a winning start at the Pursuit Challenge at Buffelsdrift Trail Park, Pretoria, last weekend.
The former Olympian has been a prolific winner for years – most recently sweeping all opposition aside at the Trailseeker Legends race in late November – and it came as no surprise that he posted the fastest time in the off-road individual time-trial.
Buys covered the 45km course in 1:28:06, a fraction over two minutes faster than runner-up Shaun-Nick Bester (1:30:11). Jan Withaar rounded out the podium in third (1:30:42).
Speaking briefly to In the Bunch following his victory, the Pretoria-based pro was grateful for the opportunity to be back racing during the Covid-19 disrupted season.
“It was great to have something to race and we appreciated the hard work of the organisers for putting in the effort to host an event that was lockdown-compliant.”
While the route may not have been the most technical the pros will face this season, Buys was cognisant of the fact that, due to the unique nature of the time-trial format, it needed to cater for amateurs as well.
“It was not the most technical route that Buffelsdrift has to offer and that kept things flowing and the speed high.
“It catered more for the ‘weekend’ rider, but was a great challenge to measure yourself against both the clock and your buddies,” the Pyga-Euro Steel rider said.
He started the event two minutes behind Bester and closed the gap throughout the race, eventually catching his opponent with a little under three kilometres left.
The women’s event was won by Kim Le Court, who completed the course in 1:49:59. Samantha Sanders took second place in 1:51:55, with Theresa Ralph third in 1:53:30.
View full results.
