Sam Bull and Julia Kotze confirmed their versatility when they secured convincing overall victories at the fourth round of the 2021 Sox Footwear Enduro Series, presented by SHRED in wet conditions at Grootfontein Bike Park, Pretoria on Sunday.
Bull, who has been the dominant male Enduro racer in Gauteng this year, won all eight of the stages in damp conditions following significant recent rain. His total time was 12 minutes 43.287 seconds. Rain began to fall again after two hours of racing time, which caught the faster riders, including Bull, on their final two stages and many others with three or four stages to complete.
The victory gave Bull a clean sweep of wins in the inaugural series, which also doubles as the 2021 Gauteng Provincial Cup Series. Mpumalanga Enduro Series champion, Willie van Eck was second overall in 13:38.454 and winner of the Under-23 category, while Chris Pearton, the routes designer finished third overall in 13:43.402 and first Sub-Veteran.
Rounding out the top five overall were Youth Men’s winner, Divan van Straaten (14:28.052) and Veteran Men’s winner, Ryan van der Spuy (14:30.505).
“It was nice to mix up the conditions as they posed a different challenge. I wouldn’t say I love those conditions, but I do feel they suit me because I have had some experience racing in the wet and mud. I understand how to ride those conditions – where to push and where to pull back,” said Bull.
“My runs went quite smoothly – all good clean runs. There was more grip than I expected in those conditions. When I approach an Enduro run I always try to be clean first and fast second. If you can be clean and fast, well, that’s the best recipe!” added Bull.
The inclusion of two blind stages added some depth to the event. Both of them used climbs (in reverse) on the Grootfontein XCO course, creating low-risk, but tight and twisty sections to challenge the competitors.
“I thought the blind stages were great! I wish we could do more Enduro racing where there are blind stages. It’s a really good test of a mountain biker’s skill. To be making decisions on the fly and using your instinct. The blind stages were very cool. Both of them were very tight stages which made it more fun and interesting.
“It’s been great to see an Enduro Series happen in Gauteng. Thanks to the organisers and partners for the high quality organisation. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I’m incredibly competitive so it was great to be able to have won all the races in the series and the overall and I hope this is the start of more Enduro racing in Gauteng in the future,” concluded Bull.
For Kotze, all the stages were actually blind stages as she never did any practice runs at the venue.
“I really enjoyed the added challenge of racing the wet conditions. I made a few mistakes on some runs, but overall I’m very happy with how they went. I do like the concept of adding blind stages to Enduro events – it makes the racing more exciting since everyone is equally unfamiliar with what is to come,” said Kotze, who clocked a total time of 15:20.644 to finish in 17th place overall.
Second place overall in the women was Veteran women’s winner Elja van Urk with a time of 17:13.542 with Sub-Junior winner, Arielle Behr, rounding out the top three in a time of 17:14.660.
Although she won Rounds 2, 3 and 4 of the series overall, Kotze competed in the Sport Women category with a Cycling SA Day Licence so isn’t eligible for provincial series rankings. But she does intend to change that next year.
“I do plan on getting a full CSA racing licence for the 2022 season and will do as many Enduro races as my schedule and budget allows,” said Kotze.
2021 Sox Footwear Enduro Series, presented by SHRED
Round 4 leading results:
Overall men
1 Sam Bull 12:43.287
2 Willie van Eck 13:38.454
3 Chris Pearton 13:43.402
4 Divan van Straaten 14:28.052
5 Ryan van der Spuy 14:30.505
6 Matteo Damilano 14:32.117
7 Eugene Kriek 14:37.659
8 Orlan Sanne 14:40.878
9 Wiehan Nagel 14:43.184
10 Anru Botha 14:51.350
Elite men
1 Sam Bull 12:43.287
2 Edward Templemore-Walters 18:29.103
Under-23 men
1 Willie van Eck 13:38.454
2 Matteo Damilano 14:32.117
3 Anru Botha 14:51.350
Junior men
1 Eugene Kriek 14:37.659
2 Wiehan Nagel 14:43.184
3 Ettiene Kross 15:08.864
Youth men
1 Divan van Straaten 14:28.052
2 Orlan Sanne 14:40.878
3 Dean Visagie 14:57.039
Sub-Junior boys
1 Joshua West 15:14.629
2 Thomas Carter-Brown 15:43.768
3 Hanro Ehlers 15:58.688
Sprog boys (4 stages)
1 Liam Labuschagne 8:16.934
2 Luke Staffod 8:24.293
3 Wian Boschofs 8:41.737
Nipper boys (4 stages)
1 Evert Maritz 7:36.900
2 Wihan van Niekerk 9:11.942
3 Ruben Venter 9:16.648
Sub-Veteran men
1 Chris Pearton 13:43.402
2 Nick Pluck 17:54.110
Veteran men
1 Ryan van der Spuy 14:30.505
2 Greg Richter 15:10.000
3 Carl Dearly 15:31.120
Master men
1 Sean Badenhorst 15:45.410
Sport men
1 Koos van den Heever 17:35.075
2 Pieter Goosen 22:01.855
Sport men Lite (4 stages)
1 Chris Kuun 7:16.862
2 Harold van Niekerk 9:09.793
Overall women
1 Julia Kotze 15:20.644
2 Elja van Urk 17:13.542
3 Arielle Behr 17:14.660
Junior women
Lauriesian Brett 18:39.667
Youth women
1 Tashane Ehlers 17:17.919
Sub-Junior girls
1 Arielle Behr 17:14.660
Veteran women
1 Elja van Urk 17:13.542
Sport women
1 Julia Kotze 15:20.644
2 Anri Goosen 22:48.360
Sport women Lite (4 stages)
1 Jessica Courtney Stafford 9:33.454
