It had to happen sometime! The last rains in the Eston district fell in March this year, and the farmers have been doing all kinds of rain dances recently in a bid to get some moisture into their crops. They could have waited a day or 2 as the 30mm of rain that fell the night before the Illovo Eston MTB Challenge turned the event from a mountain bike challenge to a matter of sheer survival. Not only was the course an absolute quagmire, but rain fell throughout the day on Sunday making conditions miserable for spectators and organisers as well.Despite the mud, South Africa’s leading mountain bikers turned up in full force on Sunday 2nd August to challenge for the 60km Illovo Marathon title. With R10 000 up for grabs for first place in each of the mens and ladies categories, racing was always going to be intense. In the mens race, Brandon Stewart (DCM Chrome) and Kevin Evans (MTN Energade) set the early pace. Evans made a dash for cash at the King of the Mountains hotspot, claiming an early paycheck of R1500, and managed to open a small gap on Stewart. Here Stewart made a tactical error, choosing to wait for his team mate Max Knox who was in the chasing pack about 15 seconds adrift. Unfortunately Knox, who has been a strong lieutenant for Stewart all season, just couldn’t close the gap. In the end, Evans raced away on his own to take another well deserved Illovo Eston title. Stewart toiled manfully all day for second, and Philip Buys (Garmin Adidas) won the end sprint to take third place from Knox and Melt Swanepoel in fourth and fifth places.
The ladies race started off with an early mud bath for the whole elite ladies field. Within 300 meters of the start an early fall in the front of the pack left all the leading contenders wearing Eston bully mud for the rest of the day. Samantha Oosthuysen was the first to recover, and she raced away to take the Queen of the mountains title. Beijing Olympian Yolande Speedy was definitely the pre race favourite and she chased hard until she suffered her first of 2 punctures. Fixing a flat in the mud is no easy task and cost her valuable minutes. Oosthuysen, who has been racing impressively all season tried to make the most of her opportunity and pushed hard to build a defendable lead. However, in the end, she was no match for Speedys pedigree and she had to settle for second place, over 4 minutes behind winner Yolande Speedy. Yolandi Du Toit was third with Shale Exelby, making a welcome return to top flight racing, fourth. Evergreen Shawna Thunder took the final overall position in fifth place.
The 40km Aquelle Classic was an exciting and closely fought affair in the boys event. Travis Walker, Brendon Davids and James Reid raced neck almost the entire way with the leading changing hands at almost every turn and puddle. It came down to an end sprint with James Reid just getting his wheel over the line first beating Travis Walker onto the lower podium step by a single second. Brendon Davids, who faded in the final kilometers, took a well deserved third place.In the ladies race it was a case of two contrasting tales. Candice Neethling, still racing as a junior who has showed impressive form all season, stormed –excuse the pun – away to win the race in an incredible 5th position overall. She sure splashed a lot of mud in the faces of some of the fancied male competitors. At the other end of the scale, seasoned campaigners Jackie Church and Amy-Jane Mundy reveled in the muddy conditions and literally romped home together to share second and third place. Church is just returning to competitive racing after taking time off to get married, whilst Mundy used the Illovo Eston MTB Challenge as her comeback event after being sidelined for nearly 2 years due to serious illness. Welcome back ladies!!
In addition to the serious racing, over 1000 enthusiastic riders took to the mud and slush of Eston in the 18 and 10km Fun rides. Braving the elements and now torturous tracks, and with much slipping and sliding, the last of these brave riders ventured home in an agonizing 4 and a half hours. These riders were the true heroes of the day, and must be applauded for swopping warm cozy beds for damp cycling shorts and mud splattered faces. In the end, it was all worth it as the Aquelle and Windhoek products were on hand to wash away the grime and cheer the spirits.
The organisers and sponsors of the Illovo Eston MTB Challenge would like to thank everybody who made the trek to Eston this last weekend. Riders, spectators and volunteers – you are all Heroes!
RESULTS.
60km ILLOVO MARATHON – MENS
Kevin Evans – 2h 32min 12 sec
Brandon Stewart – 2.35.46
Philip Buys – 2.46.34
Max Knox – 2.46.57
Ben Melt – 2.47.07
60km ILLOVO MARATHON – LADIES
Yolande Speedy – 3.16.23
Samantha Oosthuysen – 3.20.34
Yolandi Du Toit – 3.30.53
Shale Exelby – 3.50.30
Shawna Thunder – 3.53.15
40km AQUELLE CLASSIC – MENS
James Reid – 1.54.56
Travis Walker – 1.54.57
Brendon Davids – 2.01.28
40km AQUELLE CLASSIC – LADIES
Candice Neethling – 2.16.02
Jackie Church – 3.02.48
Amy-Jane Mundy – 3.02.48
Photo thanks to STEVEYELSETH.COM
