The North Coast Boys team of Andrew Hill and Brent Yelland kept their composure and cruised home to a third stage win from three on Sunday, and so claimed the overall title at the inaugural Emilgroup / Ergon North Coast Challenger stage race at Holla Trails.
While the 41-year-old Hill (pictured leading above) and his 20-year-old partner were managing things out front in the team event of the MTB Race presented by CeraGran, William Piat from Mauritius was equally in control of the racing in the solo race and duly held on to win despite a storming final day from runner-up Josh Metcalf.
The mixed category saw the talented Rouxda Grobler and husband Jacques celebrate their good fortune from the second day with a third consecutive stage win and a healthy 25-minute victory over Carl Adendorff and Karyn Southgate.
Rouxda Grobler suffered from “chain suck” for a large portion of the second day’s racing and after the finish, asked a mechanic to have a look at the derailleur setting before the final day’s racing. He reported back that the derailleur was fine, but half of one of the links in her chain had broken off completely. Incredibly, the link never snapped completely, so the mixed team leaders were able to finish the stage without even realising how close they came to a major mechanical drama.
The women’s race saw Kerry-Lee Holland and Claire Cochrane (Team Tegman Ladies) continue in their dominant form on Sunday to also secure a hat-trick of wins and secure the overall title.
Andrew Hill was full of praise for the event and sees a big future for this first-time stage race.
“There were a lot of sections which Holla Trails had mixed and matched and reversed, and so the home guys like myself did not have as much home-ground advantage,” said the happy race winner. “This also made the route seem completely different – you felt like you could be in Karkloof, or you could be in Kamberg, or even Joburg.
“In general, for the all-round excitement and enjoyment factor, I think this race was a 10 out of 10. Well done to all involved and I think this is going to grow and it is going to become a repeatable race on the calendar.”
Provisional Results
Full Distance
Team
Men
1 Andrew Hill / Brent Yelland (North Coast Boys) 5:03:37 (0:45:09, 2:35:00, 1:43:27)
2 Sanele Shabalala / Paul Shackleton (Team PS) 5:21:49 (0:48:44, 2:42:54, 1:50:10)
3 Matthew Elliott / Adriaan Van Schoor (Shakas Rock Racing) 5:38:13 (0:51:52, 2:52:09, 1:54:05)
Mixed
1 Jacques Grobler / Rouxda Grobler (The Groblers) 5:45:04 (0:52:02, 2:57:44, 1:55:17)
2 Carl Adendorff / Karyn Southgate (Bikes And Wine) 6:10:36 (0:54:51, 3:07:57, 2:07:46)
3 Julian Bryant / Natalie Bergstrom (Moobs & Nuts) 6:25:43 (0:58:26, 3:18:50, 2:08:24)
Women
1 Kerry Lee Holland / Claire Cochrane (Team Tegman Ladies) 7:21:23 (1:05:09, 3:48:58, 2:27:00)
2 Cheryl Robinson / Kerry Campbell (Double Spoke) 8:11:13 (1:12:36, 4:11:00, 2:46:51)
3 Linda Erskine / Sandy Van Rooyen (Queens Of The Night) 9:31:59 (1:20:07, 5:00:50, 3:10:49)
Solo
Men
1 William Piat 5:19:43 (0:47:54, 2:40:09, 1:51:39)
2 Joshua Metcalf 5:21:14 (0:47:58, 2:48:26, 1:44:49)
3 Shaun Scott 5:22:05 (0:50:36, 2:41:46, 1:49:42)
Women
1 Tracey Quin 7:27:30 (1:07:05, 3:51:47, 2:28:38)
2 Ilsa Van Niekerk 7:58:19 (1:09:45, 4:01:27, 2:47:06)
Lite
Team
Men
1 Evan Grant / Calan Goetsch (Bandworx/Big Decks) 3:43:36 (1:10:38, 1:29:50, 1:03:07)
2 Shane Wollenschlaeger / Jonathan Hein (Bloemendaal) 3:55:43 (1:13:38, 1:35:55, 1:06:03)
3 James Scott / Kobus De Vrye (Rivers) 4:07:36 (1:16:24, 1:42:02, 1:09:03)
Mixed
1 Rochelle Van Eck / Craig King (Health Hustlers) 4:30:30 (1:25:59, 1:53:03, 1:11:27)
2 Debra Barker / Torben Herridge (Team Blu) 5:24:52 (1:58:49, 2:06:20, 1:19:42)
Women
1 Pene Vogt / Sally Skewis (Sheffield Sprinters) 4:33:45 (1:20:56, 1:57:12, 1:15:36)
2 Bronwen Bowley / Lauren Patricia Hein (Trail Blazers) 5:57:44 (1:52:56, 2:29:36, 1:32:14)
3 Tanya Luttig / Cheryl Coetzee (Dirt Divas) 6:36:01 (2:17:20, 2:40:26, 1:38:09)
Solo
Men
1 James Close 3:04:22 (0:55:33, 1:12:00, 0:56:48)
2 Stuart Meyer 3:36:07 (1:08:03, 1:28:04, 1:00:00)
3 Gert Muller 3:43:59 (1:10:43, 1:30:03, 1:03:12)
Women
1 Kylie Harborth 3:28:09 (1:03:30, 1:24:41, 0:59:57)
2 Sophie Bircher 3:47:02 (1:07:13, 1:36:44, 1:03:03)
3 Paula Dollman 4:13:52 (1:19:06, 1:44:46, 1:09:59)
