The third instalment of the annual EzelEnduro went down this past weekend, delivering the predicted intensity and a record attendance with another new face on the top of the podium.
A shortened distance of 36 km and a reduced number of stages meant things were a little easier this year-round compared to 2016, however, the traditional EzelEnduro-sting-in-the-tail that is stage 4 and 5 still remained in place to separate the men from the boys. A brand new stage 1 eased riders into a fast and flowing introduction before heading off to stage 2 which was last year’s stage 1. Stage 3 wrapped up the easy side of things before riders traversed to stage 4, which included an hour’s hike-a-bike over some steep terrain to the top of the stage. The extremely rough and sometimes invisible, rocky stage took riders anywhere from 8 to 34 minutes to complete before heading back up the same mountain for the start of stage 5 to do it all again. From the 96 brave starters, 71 persevered and made it to the bottom, doubling last year’s number of 37.
At the sharp end of the field, it would be the day of the 16-year-old KZN local, Keira Duncan. Suffering only one minor mechanical in the form of a broken spoke, he put together the perfect combination of speed and preservation and finished in a total race time of 25:25. Only 49 seconds behind him in 2nd place was the always flying, always here-to-win Gary Barnard with a time of 26:14. And an even smaller margin of 15 seconds separated him from 3rd placed Chris Nixon with a time of 26:31. An incredible 4th place went to the youngest rider of the day, Luke Moir. The 14-year-old put in the race run of his life but lost out to 3rd position by less than a minute.
Camp vibes, food preparation for race day and discussions about just how treacherous stage 4 and 5 will be.
A record number of entrants made their way to Ceres for this year’s EzelEnduro. It’s great to see the number growing and that riders are after a more challenging event.
Daniel Dobinson
An early evening for most, as race day started at 5:30 am and the predicted finish time for most riders only in the late afternoon.
Up at the crack of dawn, and the obligatory gas-burner coffee.
Rupert von Tutschek
The morning started out super nippy, however, the temperatures soon soared as the sun peaked over the eastern peaks of Ezelfontein.
Route profiles… a reminder of what’s to come, and how you haven’t prepared enough.
Dayle Holmes
Race briefing by Rupert von Tutschek to make sure no one gets lost out there. The event piggybacked on the same weekend as the Eselfontein festival, so multiple events briefly made use of the same trails and liaisons, and getting lost was a real possibility as Theo Erlangsen found out.
Liaison 1 golden hour goodness. A mild 5km climb took riders to the top of Stage 1 to ease into the day with a nice, fast and flowy section of dust and speed.
Dave Mercer
The Red Bull truck providing beats and motivation during the last steep climb of Liaison 1.
Matt Lombardi lighting up Stage 1 and going for gold. Misfortune in the form of a broken jockey on Stage 4 would see Matt’s chances of taking the win, fly out the window though. Winning it in year one and coming 3rd last year, Matt was looking to take back the top spot, but the rock gods of EzelEnduro had decided his fate.
Adam van der Ploeg
Dave Hartley – full gas down Stage 1.
Dust, dust, dust. The surface would soon change into a rocky, bouldery nightmare.
Keira Duncan | King of EzelEnduro
Dave Mercer on his hand-built, steel frame, full suspension steed. What a way to test and a prove the capabilities of this bike!
Kath Fourie
Adam van der Ploeg showing the battle scars of EzelEnduro. Clipping a rock on Stage 4 sent him over the bars and left him with a snapped handlebar and without a drivetrain.
Gary Barnard
The winning bike and rider of the 2017 EzelEnduro.
Post race potjie kos and ice cold beers – the way it should be.
Top 10 overall:
1. Keira Duncan – 25:25
2. Gary Barnard – 26:14
3. Chris Nixon – 26:31
4. Luke Moir – 27:24
5. Andre Steinfurth – 28:05
6. Andreas Ewald – 28:53
7. Julien Louw – 29:04
8. Andrew Savage – 29:08
9. Matthieu Hamel – 29:08
10. Stiaan Swart – 29:35
Left: James Coetzer winning some brakes sponsored by SRAM. Right: Danie du Toit winning the hardtail category, again.
Team podium. Too many names to mention.
Podium for riders that have completed all 3 EzelEnduros and every single stage.
Ladies podium. 1st: Gina Nixon. 2nd: Rika Olivier. 3rd: Kath Fourie
Mens podium. 1st: Keira Duncan. 2nd: Gary Barnard. 3rd: Chris Nixon
Download the full results here.
Get the full race gallery here.
A big thank you must go out to our sponsors and people that make this event possible. To our title sponsor SRAM and Cape Cycle Systems for cash and prizes, Red Bull for wings and music, and Cape Brewing Co for post race beers. Deon Malherbe for again allowing us to make use of his land, and providing the camp grounds and ablution facilities. To David Hartley for providing number boards and hooking me up with his E-bike, without which I would have not been able to do my job. To Robert Starke for the after party keg. And lastly to Stephen, Tanja and Adele for providing an amazing dinner in the form of a prize-winning potjie.
All images by Ewald Sadie | instagram: @ewaldsadie | www.esphotography.co.za