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inGEAR: Words & Photos: Zoon Cronje

Keey and Kleinhans

Win Sabie Marathon

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Sabie is, without a doubt, one of the country’s most beautiful towns in South Africa and so it comes as no surprise that it was recently proclaimed the Mpumalanga winner of Rapport and Kwêla’s Town of the Year competition. Aside from its aesthetics, Sabie has also earned the reputation as an adventure destination, especially amongst avid mountain bikers.

This quaint and picturesque town is small enough to explore on foot and boasts some of the loveliest restaurants in the Lowveld. A few of the superb restaurants that line the town’s streets are the Wild Fig Tree, which has a mouth-watering menu that specialises in South African cuisine like crocodile, warthog, ostrich and trout; the famous Woodsman Restaurant, which is loved by bikers, tourists and locals alike; and Smokey’s, where you can enjoy the unique experience of dining in a train. Sabie is also the gateway to some of the ‘wonders of South Africa’, including the Blyde River Canyon, Three Rondavels, God’s Window and numerous waterfalls that adorn the Sabie and Mac Mac Rivers. But, to top it all, the town is also one of the country’s mountain biking Meccas and home to two of South Africa’s best riders, namely Max Knox (Specialized) and Lourens Luus (RE:CM). So where better to host a mountain biking event! The UCI-sanctioned MTN Sabie ultra race, which was held on 23 and 24 February 2014, is a true ‘monument’ to mountain biking in South Africa and attracted more than 3,000 mountain bikers, who were keen to test their skills on some of the most exciting mountain biking trails in the Drakensberg.

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The race to the finish turned out to be a humdinger between Charles Keey (Cannondale/Blend Properties) and Nico Bell (Westvaal/Bell Cycles). There was no clear winner until literally the last 100 m when Keey secured victory by managing to be the first to race into the final corner, forcing Bell to brake for a mere second. That was all that Keey needed and he won in 4:46, with Bell finishing right on his shoulder. Max Knox (Specialized) was third, followed by Waylon Woolcock (RE:CM) and Lourens Luus (RE:CM). “This is definitely the biggest victory of my career,” a jubilant Keey said afterwards. By winning the MTN Sabie ultra race, Keey also became the number one ranked rider on the local Kia rankings. Unfortunately, nothing much came of the anticipated South African versus European challenge. Karl Platt and his teammates from Team Bulls were unable to compete in Sabie because their team launch was held over the same weekend.

Steffen Thum (Germany), the overall winner of the 2011-2012 UCI MTB Marathon World Series, and his compatriot Simon Gegenheimer, who finished fourth overall in the same series, were as he had predicted beforehand not fit enough to take on the South Africans.

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All the actionAs the race got underway on Saturday, Darren Lill (Cannondale/Blend Properties) was the first to attack, which enabled him to take the lead on the first serious climb. Unfortunately for Lill, a moment’s lack of concentration caused him to take the wrong route, which effectively ended any hope of a victory for him. Bell, Neil MacDonald (Fedgroup-Itec) and Philip Buys (Scott), who raced in front at various stages, were the strongest riders over the next, approximately, 20 km. After the first 74 km lap, Buys had a lead of about two minutes. But, as luck would have it, he had a puncture not once but twice and eventually had to ride the last 20 km with a flat tyre. MacDonald attacked on the last serious climb and Keey, who knew he had good legs, opted for a more conservative approach and rode at his own pace. “I just made sure that I kept Neil in sight.” In the end, he caught up with MacDonald and then with Bell, while Knox joined up with him. But for Knox, who had to play catch-up during most of the race, this was it. He just did not have anything left in his legs to continue racing at that pace. After Saturday’s race, Max Knox admitted that he lost any chance of winning the 110 km ultra race because of silly mistakes he made going down the Rocky Horror.

At this point, the ‘dogfight’ between Bell and Keey started in all earnest. During the last few kilometres they took turns to ride in front, but Keey managed to be the first to get onto the last five kilometres of single track. According to Bell, there was no way for him to pass Keey. Said Keey, who had made sure he was in Sabie a day prior to the race so that he had time to ride parts of the course beforehand, “I realised that it was important to be first on the single track, as well as going into the last corner.” Knox has no qualms about finishing third. “I raced as best I could. In the end, tactics used by Nico and Charles were better than mine. I can honestly say that I could not have lost to two more deserving riders. Both Nico and Charles have been putting in the long and hard hours and it is time that their efforts start to pay off. I actually think that this year’s MTN series will be extremely exciting. There are so many new riders who can win,” said Knox, who won last year’s series.

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In the MTN women’s 70 km marathon, Ariane Kleinhans (RE:CM) and Candice Neethling (BMC) were involved in a titanic battle and rode shoulder to shoulder for about 67 km. But it was only during the last few kilometres that Kleinhans managed to drop Neethling, who was victorious at the MTN Barberton Marathon, and beat her by a mere 22 seconds in a winning time of 3:32:52. Kleinhans has now won the MTN Sabie marathon for two consecutive years. In third was Robyn de Groot, riding in the Songo.info colours, proving that her second place finish at the MTN Barberton marathon was no fluke. When asked why she rode in the Songo.info kit, De Groot said that she did it to pay tribute to the late international mountain biking legend, Burry Stander, as well as in support of his wife, Cherise. When Stander and Christoph Sauser (Switzerland) won the Absa Cape Epic last year, they were wearing similar jerseys. De Groot’s performance is even more remarkable considering that she has only been competing seriously in mountain bike races since January. Theresa Ralph finished in fourth and Amy McDougall fifth. Kleinhans readily admits that she had to dig deep to win the Sabie again. “Candice’s never-say-die attitude meant that I had a tough fight on my hands right up to the end, but it was actually very exciting.” Neethling was full of praise afterwards for the way in which Kleinhans rode. “Ariane is an awesome athlete. The fact that I was able to stay with her for most of the race is a real confidence booster for me.” Neethling reckons that the reason why she is consistently performing well in marathon racing lately is that she has many more long, hard miles in her legs. She is planning to compete in more marathons, but her main goal remains to achieve a good result in August at the UCI World Cross Country Championship in Pietermaritzburg. “Racing marathons has certainly helped to improve my endurance. It also helps me to learn how to push myself through the pain barrier. I can honestly say that competing in marathons has made cross-country racing seem like fun.” The success accomplished by Dylan Rebello (Jeep) in the National Nissan Half Marathon series can best be described as ‘from apprentice to champion’. On the Sunday, the 18-year-old rider from Johannesburg raced to his second consecutive victory when he won the junior Nissan Half Marathon race (40 km) in convincing style. He was also victorious at Barberton. Rebello’s victories prove that perseverance does pay off. Last year, when he competed in the junior category of Nissan for the first time, Rebello was a major role player basically every time he raced.

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A definite highlight for him was when he won the South African junior title at the Nissan Hilton Dirt Fest. He was second at Mabalingwe and third at Barberton, Sabie and Clarens. It meant that, out of eight Nissan races, he finished on the podium five times.

This was not bad at all for a rookie. Because of his consistency, he finished second overall in the Nissan Series. However, throughout last year, Rebello emphasised that he was on a learning curve and only trying to find his feet at the junior level. “I want to make the most of 2013, which is my second season as a junior rider.” That is exactly what he is doing at the moment and so far this season he has not been beaten in a half marathon race. At Sabie there was actually never any doubt about who was going to win. Rebello attacked within the first 5 km and from then on there was no way of stopping him. He just powered on until none of his rivals were able to keep up with him. His winning time was 1:44:49. His Jeep teammate, Patric Belton (U23), was second in 1:46:19, with Nicholas Popich (junior) third in 1:48:09, Tristan de Lange (youth rider) fourth in 1:48:58 and Raymond Wagener (junior) fifth in 1:49:52. According to Rebello, the racing conditions were quite tough. “We were riding in a slight drizzle during most of the race, which made the course very slippery in some places. But that was not the worst of it. Conditions were very challenging because we were racing through thick mist. At times I could barely see 10 m in front of me. Due to the mist I also had no idea of how close the other riders were.” Belton said the race can be described as a scenario of ‘out of sight out of mind’. It was actually quite a good weekend for the riders from Team Jeep.

Not only did they dominate in the Nissan Half Marathon but they were also victorious in the MTN U23 Marathon. Brendon Davids won the 74 km race in 3:49:43. Travis Walker, who won the MTN Barberton U23 Marathon, was third and Belton fourth. Overall it was a great day of racing and I'm looking forward to seeing how the season pans out. •

èRelated articles: • Knox Clinches Record 4th Win at MTN Barberton

(Digital article, Jan '13) • Inaugural Cycle Fest a Success (Issue 23, p. 46) • MTN National MTB Series - 3 Races 3 Experiences (Issue 16, p. 82)