Gert Heyns and Candice Neethling made the most of their cross-country technical racing skills to win the men and women’s marathon race titles respectively at Round 2 of the Nissan TrailSeeker Series at Grabouw in the Western Cape at the weekend.
One of the more challenging race routes delivered a good allround challenge for over 1000 riders in four different distances in the heart of the scenic Western Cape agricultural district.
For Heyns, it was his second successive win in the 2016 Nissan TrailSeeker Series, Western Cape. The SCOTT LCB Factory Racing rider held off a strong field to claim the 70km race title in a time of 02 hours 45 minutes 14 seconds. He was followed home two-and-a-half minutes later by Team Telkom’s HB Kruger who out-sprinted Matt Beers (Red-E Cannondale) for the runner-up spot.
Dylan Rebello (Momsen Bikes) and Waylon Woolcock (USN Purefit) rounded out the top five overall.
Gert Heyns (second rider from left) in SCOTT LCB kit, making his way up the ranks to claim the win in the marathon race. Photo Credit: ZC Marketing Consulting
“Today was great fun, really good route with incredible trails. It was just so nice and grippy out there after the rain” said a satisfied Heyns.
In the women’s race, Team Dorma’s Neethling took the lead on the first big climb, which came after 20km of racing. From the summit she steadily increased her lead to clock a winning time of 3:16:31, which put her in 22nd place overall. Carmen Buchacher finished second in 3:21:31 with Katie Lennard rounding out the podium positions.
“On the first big climb I knew what kind of pace I could hold to the top, so I kept that and had a decent lead over Carmen by the top. From there, I just had to make sure that she wasn’t closing on me. Fortunately for me, there was a lot of technical riding, which gave me an advantage over her and I extended my lead,” said a content Neethling.
Candice Neethling taking and holding the lead on the first big climb at Grabouw. Photo Credit: ZC Marketing Consulting
“I love racing in the Grabouw area. The terrain is tough and unforgiving and that suits me better than the events with lots of flowing, open-trail riding. Having said that, we did finish on a fun section of trail that left me finishing with a smile,” added Neethling.
In the 40km Half-marathon, Robert Hobson and Allison Morton won the male and female races overall respectively.
For complete results, visit www.saseeding.co.za
Round 3 of the Nissan TrailSeeker Western Cape Series will be the Hemel & Aarde event near Hermanus on 8 October 2016. To enter, visit www.trailseekerseries.co.za
