“Magical”, “technical”, “intimate”, “gourmet food”, a “real mountain biker’s race” were just some of the adjectives used by the winners to describe the inaugural Ride The Rock Stage Race. Did you do the race? What did you think?
Evans (Nedbank 360 Life) and Ariane Kleinhans (Contego) walked off with the Champions title in the overall men’s and women’s categories of the Ride The Rock Cederberg MTB Multi Stage Race on Sunday after completing three days of racing in a combined time of 07hours31minutes16seconds and 09hours22minutes44seconds respectively.
According to Evans, stage three’s route was magical. “Today was rough. The route was technical and difficult, yet magical as well. Nico Pfitzenmaier made a break on the first downhill. This is where the field got spread out leaving us all to do our own work. I managed to catch Nico after the 20km mark though. David George and I were fortunate to enjoy some really good wine on Saturday, thanks to Dawid Nieuwoudt of Cederberg Wines. We also got to select the wines that we’d like to be in the prize packs after stage three. Knowing what prize was up for grabs, I had to work extra hard. I thoroughly enjoyed Ride The Rock. It’s an intimate race that allowed me to meet great people passionate the sport. The routes are also very well prepared, although hard, they are short enough to allow sufficient recovery time before the next stage. I’d definitely like to be back next year,” says Evans. David George came in second overall after the three days, while Nico Pfitzenmaier finished third.
For Ariane Kleinhans it was another great day in the saddle, securing herself a hat-trick win on the day. “The Cederberg is a special area. It is really worth taking the time to come here. I’d like it if the event remained small. There’s no worries, we can cycle, chat to people, it’s just so peaceful. The route is well marked and the food is delicious, they should actually call it the gourmet stage race. The routes are technical and I’d definitely say that it’s for riders that at least have a little skill. The thing about rocks is that if you fall, you fall hard. This event is definitely for the real mountain biker,” says Kleinhans. Hanlie Booyens came in second overall after the three days, while Theresa Horn finished third.
Overall Results / General Classification (Stage 1, 2 and 3 combined):
Men
1. 1. Kevin Evans 07hours31minutes16seconds
2. 2. Dave George 07hours32minutes42seconds
3. 3. Nico Pfitzenmaier 07hours35minutes42seconds
Women
1. 1. Ariane Kleinhans 09hours22minutes44seconds
2. 2. Hanlie Booyens 09hours41minutes32seconds
3. 3. Theresa Horn 11hours29minutes13seconds
Did you do the race? Rate it here.
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