Matt Beers and Cherise Willeit conquered the roads around Karkloof on a tough course – and their rivals – to secure the Elite Men and Women’s 2023 South African Gravel Championships titles at the weekend. For Beers it was a long solo effort to the gold medal, while Willeit’s win was more tactical.
By Sean Badenhorst
Beers won the inaugural SA Gravel title at Race to the Sea last year and has had an impressive year of racing leading up to the 2023 edition, held at Harvard House GoGravel Midlands in Karkloof, making him the outright favourite. While it wasn’t big field, it was a strong one, attracting several top mountain bike and road racing names as well as those who have found success in ultra-distance gravel events.
With the biggest climb coming early on, Beers and Toyota Specialized teammate, Tristan Nortje, dictated the pace in an effort to thin down the field. They were successful, with just a couple of riders able to hang on.
“Tristan and I set a really hard tempo on the first climb, which was about 15 kays in. We got away with Gert (Heyns) and Wessel (Botha) and then Tristan pushed it a little bit more and he got clear. I was watching if they would work to bring him back, but they were on the limit. So then I jumped across to Tristan,” explained Beers.
Beers and Nortje shared the pace-setting to extend their lead, but Nortje experienced some chain issues, leaving Beers to ride on alone. Beers set a steady pace that was too difficult for anyone to close down and rode most of the race solo to claim the victory in 04 hours, 13 minutes and 30 seconds.
Nortje quickly sorted out his chain problem and maintained his second place to the finish line, where he was just over six minutes behind Beers. The tough course made it difficult for any bunches to form and Kent Main moved into third place in a time of 4:23:44 to secure the bronze medal.
“I was basically in the lead for 110 kays. It was a long, lonely day. It’s always difficult to pace being away that long. You can’t over-pace, but you have to do it quite strategically. You need a very metronomic rhythm, not going crazy on the climbs or flats, but staying on the gas the whole time. I seem to have learned the art of that,” explained Beers.
Beers and Nortje’s preparation wasn’t ideal in that they flew back to South Africa from Scotland after competing at the Marathon World Champs last Sunday. But the SA Gravel Champs was a key event on their schedule.
“The national champs jersey does mean a lot to me. I’m racing Gravel overseas quite a lot, continuing with the Lifetime Grand Prix Series in the US this year and hopefully next year. Being able to represent South Africa in this jersey where ever I race is very special,” said Beers, who is also the current South African Marathon Champion.
Having raced many different gravel races in South Africa and abroad, Beers was full of praise for what was a very challenging route.
“The route was really hard. It was only 134 kays but I had 2800 metres of climbing, which is solid in that distance. Kevin Benkenstein created the route and he did a great job. The flow was really good – from massive climbs to short, punchy climbs, to forestry roads. The road surface in places was pretty rough due to the logging trucks and winter dryness. Overall though, it was a world class route,” said the reigning Absa Cape Epic champion.
Despite missing some top names, there was a reasonable turnout of women, who had a separate start. Willeit and her Cycle Nation Sandton City teammate, Joanna van der Winkel, rode clear of the pack on the first major climb early on and stayed clear to the finish.
Willeit outsprinted Van der Winkel to claim the victory in a time of 05 hours, 34 minutes and 34 seconds. Van der Winkel claimed the silver medal four seconds later with Melissa Kretzinger scooping the bronze medal in a time of 5:50:56.
“The route was a big shock to my system! I did not know it was going to be so technical and rocky and loose. It definitely pushed my limits. We were lucky to start in our own bunch so we could choose our lines. If you had to follow lines it would have been even harder,” said Willeit.
“We didn’t really discuss tactics before the race. I think both Jo and I wanted to win the title. My plan was to try and stay with Jo on the climbs. On the first climb she went quite hard and I managed to stay with her. We got clear of the others and then I would set the pace on the flats and downhills. Trying to climb 2800 metres with someone that weighs 45kg is not easy!
“I did feel quite strong on the day though and I tried to get away from Jo on the last climb, but she didn’t let me get clear. Luckily I was quite confident in my sprint and I am very happy with the win. Hopefully we can see more of the top girls at future races. I know most of them were racing the Road World Champs, so it wasn’t the strongest field, but it’s still amazing to win another national title,” added Willeit
This is Willeit’s sixth national Elite title in a fourth cycling discipline. She has twice won the South African Road Race title, twice captured the national Individual Time Trial title and has also won the SA MTB Marathon Champs crown.
A total of 130 riders contested the 134km race with 29 of them abandoning. There were full podiums in all the but the Master’s women as committed racers from around the country contested the various age-group podiums. Below is a summary of the medallists in each.
“For Katie and I, being able to organise this event right here on our doorstep, and to have it host SA Gravel Champs was a great way to launch a new event into the gravel road riding scene. Despite the short notice, we are really proud of our event and so far the rider feedback has been amazing. We are stoked that so many people decided to come and ride the event and enjoy the incredible gravel roads and tracks that we have here in the Karkloof,” said Race Director, Devlin Fogg.
“There are many people to thank, but special thanks to the Harvard House Group who jumped in with both feet as our title partner. A local business with a national footprint, their enthusiasm for the event and their willingness to get their hands dirty was incredible, and we hope to build a long term relationship with them to grow our fledgling event in the future. Thanks also to all those that helped behind the scenes and on the day make this event a success,” he added.
134KM RACE
Overall Men
1 Matt Beers 04hrs 13min 30sec
2 Tristan Nortje 4:19:34
3 Kent Main 4:23:44
4 Gert Heyns 4:25:21
5 Wessel Botha 4:27:29
6 Brandon Downes 4:27:46
7 Matthew Keyser 4:31:24
8 Jan Withaar 4:31:24
9 Erick Heyns 4:31:30
10 Jaco van Dyk 4:35:58
Elite Men
1 Matt Beers 04hrs 13min 30sec
2 Tristan Nortje 4:19:34
3 Kent Main 4:23:44
Sub-Veteran Men
1 Thinus Redelinghuys 4:42:59
2 Dusty Day 4:4613
3 Kevin Benkenstein 4:50:38
Veteran Men
1 Alex Pavlov 4:46:05
2 Donovan Geldenhuys 4:50:38
3 Carl Lotter 5:02:44
Master Men
1 Gert Nel 5:29:30
2 Marc Adam 5:39:14
3 Greg Keers 5:48:20
Overall Women
1 Cherise Willeit 5:35:34
2 Joanna van der Winkel 5:35:38
3 Melissa Kretzinger 5:50:56
4 Tess Keers 5:59:38
5 Nicola Freitas 6:07:00
6 Beverley Wingfield 6:20:59
7 Jade Slabbert 6:33:29
8 Jodi Zulberg 6:33:44
9 Sanchia Malan 6:40:00
10 Karyn Adendorff 6:49:03
Elite Women
1 Cherise Willeit 5:35:34
2 Joanna van der Winkel 5:35:38
3 Melissa Kretzinger 5:50:56
Sub-Veteran Women
1 Beverley Wingfield 6:20:59
2 Bianca Cooper 6:50:49
3 Lasqueve Raubenheimer 7:02:05
Veteran Women
1 Tess Keers 5:59:38
2 Karyn Adendorff 6:49:03
3 Kerry Koen 7:33:21
Master Women
1 Jodi Zulberg 6:33:44
2 Kim Brearly 7:50:45
100KM EVENT
The Grand-masters Men and Women’s national title was contest in the shorter 100km race. Fittingly, Vaughn Ulyate, a Grand-master, won the race overall, with Sarah van Heerden securing the Grand-master Women’s title. There was also a 60km race for those keen on a challenge, but not for the bigger distances.
Overall Men
1 Vaughn Ulyate 3:56:31
2 Michael Adey 3:58:11
3 Jean-Paul van der Linde 3:58:15
Grand-master Men
1 Vaughn Ulyate 3:56:31
2 Dirk Labuschagne 4:01:06
3 Johan Fourie 4:03:16
Overall Women
1 Mikaela Meyer 4:12:14
2 Sarah van Heerden 4:40:22
3 Bronwynn Lewis 4:42:29
Grand-master Women
1 Sarah van Heerden 4:40:22
2 Marian Loveday 5:32:50
3 Karen Bargate 5:44:38
eBIKE Men
1 Wade Mostert 4:01:37
2 Wayne Holt 4:31:43
eBIKE Women
1 Mira Castleman 4:23:06
2 Sue Preston 4:29:35
60KM EVENT
Overall Men
1 Thinus Maritz 2:18:38
2 Sean Yelland 2:26:20
3 Andrew Neal 2:38:46
Overall Women
1 Rebecca van der Linde 3:11:47
2 Kim Smart 3:20:30
3 Zurike Portwig 3:23:02
eBIKE Men
1 Andre Pitman 2:29:45
2 Carl Cronje 2:36:21
3 Patrick Carter-Brown 2:39:15
eBIKE Women
1 Caroline Woollam 2:46:44
2 Lisa West 2:51:34
3 Malanie Bruwer 3:04:03
