The 2023 Imbuko Big Five Mountain Bike Challenge – probably South Africa’s toughest marathon race – was one for the books. The men’s race was won by Swiss racer, Andri Frischknecht of SCOTT-SRAM, who completed the course in a time of 3:54:22, beating out a strong field of local and international racers. In the women’s category, South Africa’s Candice Lill took home the top prize in 4:46:07.
Frischknecht (pictured above), a multiple Absa Cape Epic stage winner, made his break on climb three (out of five) and showed his World Cup class to stay away until the finish. The young gun will race the 2023 Cape Epic with the legendary Nino Schurter. Judging by the Swiss racer’s form on Saturday, the SCOTT-SRAM pairing is going to be tough to beat come March.
The second-place battle was fierce between Frischknecht’s Swiss compatriot and teammate, Filippo Colombo and South Africa’s Marco Joubert of the Imbuko Type Dev team, who suffered a mechanical but managed to rejoin Colombo, who outgunned him in the sprint for the line more than five minutes behind Frischknecht.
“For sure it was a good test for the legs. But the main thing was to test stuff on the bike – tyres and sealant and some suspension we changed for this year. It worked out pretty well. My shape is coming along and we will be ready for the Epic,” said a composed Frischknecht, who used a massive 38-tooth chainring for Saturday’s mountainous race!
“It was a super tough course. I suffered quite a lot in the beginning. The guys were super fast up the first mountain. I tried to race my own race and in the end it paid off. We had a good sprint for second place,” said Colombo, who is currently ranked fifth in the world on the UCI’s XCO rankings.
“The top international riders definitely had something to prove against the local guys,” said Joubert, who was very happy with his podium finish.
“There was a bit of a headwind up the first climb but even there, the international guys were pushing so hard that I thought they were either going to break records or blow up, so I just stuck to my own pace,” he said.
Two-time Olympian and multiple South African champion, Lill (Seattle Coffee Co/King Price) dominated the women’s race, leading from start to finish. Current South African marathon champion, Amy Wakefield (Efficient Infinity Symbtech) finished second, more than eight minutes later, with Nambian star, Vera Looser (Lapierre Elysator) rounding out the podium.
“I felt good. I managed to get my fuelling correct as well. I kept telling myself, ‘you’re feeling good now, but you have to keep eating and fuelling so that you can feel good all the way to the end’,” remarked Lill.
“The toughest parts were this first climb, because everybody wants to just go and the racing is on because it’s still early. And that new Cliffhanger trail. I struggled to make it around some of the switchbacks because of the wind. It was a good challenge,” she smiled.
The Imbuko Big Five Mountain Bike Challenge is a one-day mountain bike race over 77km, featuring 3000 metres of vertical gain over five major climbs. The race takes its name from the ‘Big Five’ climbs in the Hawequa mountains surrounding Wellington. This year the event attracted a host of top international riders who are in the country to train.
Elite Women Results
1 Candice Lill – RSA (Seattle Coffee Co/King Price) 4:46:07
2 Amy Wakefield – RSA (Efficient Infinity Symbtech) 4:55:28
3 Vera Looser – NAM (Lapierre Elysator) 4:56.42
4 Sam Sanders – RSA (Efficient Infinity) 5:26:33
5 Sarah Hill – RSA (Liv) 5:30:09
Elite Men Results
1 Andri Frischknecht – SUI (SCOTT-SRAM) 3:54:22
2 Filippo Colombo – SUI (SCOTT-SRAM) 3:59:37
3 Marco Joubert – RSA (Imbuko Type Dev) 3:59:42
4 Tristan Nortje – RSA (Toyota Specialized) 4:03:42
5 Simon Schneller – GER (Team Bulls) 4:08:49
Source: Wildair Sports
