Race report: Western Province Gravity Enduro round 3 at Contermanskloof

A 5 month long break in racing, saw the Western Province Gravity Enduro host round 3 for the first time at the infamous Contermanskloof MTB trails. The wind-swept, barren and dry surroundings presented a different kind of beauty and the 3 special stages left the 87 riders wanting more, despite a nasty wind and soaring temperatures. The 3 timed stages totalled a distance of 6.2km with an elevation drop of 546m and an average gradient of -8.3%.

As with previous Enduro’s, the event was raced blind, meaning none of the riders saw the stages before race day. Local knowledge however always plays a role and with parts of the stages used in previous events, this was visible. With the top 5 separated by just 15 seconds, racing was extremely close over all 3 stages. Robert Starke edged out Matthew Lombardi by just 5 seconds to finish in a total time of 10m 40s, with Darryn Stow coming in 3rd just 5 seconds after Matthew. 4th and 5th was rounded up by Downhill pro Stefan Garlicki, and Contermanskloof local, Jaco Veldsman respectively. The women’s race saw Rika Olivier take top step in a total time of 12m 58s, closely followed by Berlize Pritchard some 13 seconds behind. Third spot was claimed by Leigh Haskins.

Be sure to check out the video at the bottom by Thomas Sandell.

Registration, last minute adjustments and a bit of pre race chit chat.

Riders gather at the bike shed for race briefing.

To avoid excessive bunching at the start of the timed stages, riders started the liaisons in groups of 15, 5 minutes apart.

Liaison 1 with Table Mountain and Cape Town lurking in the back.

Still a long way to the top.

Riders lining up before starting SS1.

2nd place man Matt Lombardi laying down the power on SS1.

Bennett Nel navigating one of the high speed fench bridges on SS1.

Top lady Rika Olivier panned on SS1.

Devon Katzen making the most of the fast open grass fields.

Liaison 2.

Cobus Esterhuyse on SS2.

Darryn Stow on SS2 on his way to 2nd overall.

2nd fastest lady of the day, Berlize Pritchard.

SS2 consisted mostly of wide open, fast and flowing trails.

Stefan Garlicki on SS2, coming home in 4th position overall.

Jaco Veldsman pinned on SS2, 5th overall.

Liaison 3, with the heat taking its toll on the riders.

Leigh Haskins, rounding up the women’s podium with 3rd.

Martin Prest navigating the jagged rocks on SS3.

Robert Starke descending down SS3 on his way to take the overall win.

Francois du Toit tucked on SS3.

A special thank you goes out to our sponsors (in no particular order) Evoc, Ion, X-fusion, 510, Trail and Tar and PYGA, and Robert Starke, for preparing 3 awesome special stages. Without you guys coming to the party, none of this would be possible. So hats off to you. Another thank you goes to Grevel Ruddock and the Great-Time team, the Tygess medics who were on standby during the event and the WP DH Committee for all their hard work and dedication.