Despite a nearly disastrous puncture, the North Coast Boys team of Andrew Hill and Brent Yelland (pictured at front on orange bikes) added a massive chunk of time to their overnight lead on the second stage of the Emilgroup / Ergon North Coast Challenger MTB stage race at Holla Trails on Saturday.
Yelland suffered a snakebite puncture early in the stage and the pairing had to make some running repairs. That meant a long chase back to the leaders before they were able to re-establish their dominance once more. They ended up increasing their overall advantage to a huge 11 minutes over the nearest team in the three-day event.
Team PS’s Sanele Shabalala and Paul Shackleton are lying second in the team event with Adriaan van Schoor and Matthew Elliott (Shakas Rock Racing) third, another 13 minutes further behind.
The nearest challenger to Hill and Yelland is solo rider William Piat, who will have to make sure Shaun Scott and Joshua Metcalf do not make up their four- and eight-minute deficits respectively.
“It was going great until 5km in when I pinch flatted the front tyre and so we had to fix that and there were issues,” said Yelland after crossing the line. “Then the adaptor was clogged, so we had to borrow one from somebody who came past.
“So it took about five minutes to plug the two holes and from there on it was game on and we had to chase the guys. We caught the leaders at about 35km in and dropped them and pushed the whole way back to the finish.
“The course was really nice. It suited me with a nice mix of single track and gravel roads … it was quite cool!
“It is very nice to ride with Andrew … especially when I punctured. He is so experienced and he knows exactly what to do. His pacing and everything … and he knows the area so well that he knows what lines to take.”
In the mixed category, Rouxda and Jacques Grobler headed home after Saturday’s stage with a big lead despite a minor drama. Rouxda spent a bit of time struggling to fix her chain when it jumped off the chainring after Jacques had ridden ahead through a singletrack section. Ryan Harborth and Karyn Southgate are second mixed team, 13 minutes behind the husband and wife duo.
Provisional Leading Results:
Full Distance
Men
1 North Coast Boys (Andrew Hill / Brent Yelland) 3:20:17 (0:45:09, 2:35:00),
2 Team PS (Sanele Shabalala / Paul Shackleton) 3:31:39 (0:48:44, 2:42:54),
3 Shakas Rock Racing (Adriaan van Schoor / Matthew Elliott) 3:44:06 (0:51:54, 2:52:12).
Mixed
1 The Groblers (Jacques Grobler / Rouxda Grobler) 3:49:51 (0:52:02, 2:57:44),
2 Bikes And Wine (Ryan Harborth / Karyn Southgate) 4:02:49 (0:54:51, 3:07:57),
3 Moobs & Nuts (Mike Gerhardt / Julian Bryant) 4:17:16 (0:58:24, 3:18:52).
Women
1 Team Tegman Ladies (Emrys Aldersley / Claire Cochrane) 4:54:17 (1:05:09, 3:48:58),
2 Double Spoke (Craig Smith / Kerry Campbell) 5:24:23 (1:12:36, 4:11:00)
Solo Men
1 William Piat 3:28:03 (0:47:54, 2:40:09 ),
2 Shaun Scott 3:32:23 (0:50:36, 2:41:46 ),
3 Joshua Metcalf 3:36:25 (0:47:58, 2:48:26).
Solo Women
1 Tracey Quin 4:58:52 (1:07:05, 3:51:47 ).
Lite Distance
Men
1 Bandworx/Big Decks (Evan Grant / Calan Goetsch) 2:40:32 (1:10:38, 1:29:50),
2 Bloemendaal (Shane Wollenschlaeger / Jonathan Hein) 2:49:40 (1:13:38, 1:35:55),
3 Rivers (James Scott / Kobus De Vrye) 2:58:34 (1:16:24, 1:42:02).
Mixed
1 Health Hustlers (Rochelle Van Eck / Craig King) 3:19:02 (1:25:59, 1:53:03),
2 Team Blu (Debra Barker / Torben Herridge) 4:05:10 (1:58:49, 2:06:20).
Women
1 Trail Blazers (Lauren Patricia Hein / Bronwen Bowley) 4:23:27 (1:52:59, 2:30:28),
2 Dirt Divas (Cheryl Coetzee / Tanya Luttig) 4:57:54 (2:17:20, 2:40:34).
Solo Men
1 James Close 2:07:33 (0:55:33, 1:12:00 ),
2 Stuart Meyer 2:36:07 (1:08:03, 1:28:04 ),
3 Tejan Pillay 2:43:00 (1:05:26, 1:37:33 ).
Solo Women
1 Kylie Harborth 2:28:12 (1:03:30, 1:24:41 ),
2 Paula Dollman 3:03:53 (1:19:06, 1:44:46 ),
3 Nicky Knox 3:23:18 (1:25:09, 1:58:09 ).
Source: Gameplan Media
