Marco Joubert and Mariske Strauss conquered a demanding course and a strong field to reign supreme as the men and women’s overall winners of the 2022 Imbuko Big 5 Challenge in Wellington at the weekend.
In the mountains around Wellington, just short of 300 ambitious riders saddled up to take on the 75km race in conditions that were cool in the morning with minimal wind, a welcome contrast to the previous year’s gale force conditions.
Set shortly before the ABSA Cape Epic in the calendar to give riders a litmus test for how they will size up to its infamously arduous stages, the Imbuko Big 5 means business when it comes to the physicality and technicality of the course. Riders ascend and descend 3020m over the 75km course, often on unforgiving terrain. Traction and smooth lines are hard earned on the climbs and there is no time to rest on the well-crafted but technical singletrack descents! All aspects of a well-rounded mountain biker are put to the test at this race.
As may be assumed by the name, the vertical gain is made up from five big climbs. Haweqwa, Seven Peaks, Obiekwa, Groenberg, and Patatskloof. Climbing terrain was made up of a mix of jeep track and singletrack, while all descending, apart from the Patatskloof gravel roads, was done on singletrack. Many riders participated in the event purely for the incredible descending trails.
Coming into Saturday’s race the women’s entry list was looking potent while team Imbuko {type}DEV had a strong showing in the men’s field at their home race. Mariske Strauss (Liv South Africa) and Yolande De Villiers (The Coopetto) looked to be the favourites in the women’s race but Danielle Strydom, Mari Rabie and Cathy Colyn were also eager for a podium tussle.
Marco Joubert, Wessel Botha, Pieter Du Toit, Stuart Marais and Franko Van Zyl made up the Imbuko {type}DEV contingent while opposition to the home team riders came in the form of German rider Sascha Weber (Trek Vaude) and HB Kruger and Matthew Keyser (Valley Electrical Titan Racing). Given the race was a solo event, the teammates in the field were not going to be racing friendly with each other!
Last year it was Matt Beers and Candice Lill who rode off the front of their competitors on the first climb and held the lead all the way to victory but we were in for a much more exciting tussle in 2022. Strauss opened up a gap over the chasing group of De Villiers, Strydom, Rabie and Colyn. De Villiers would start to put time into the other three and held a close gap of just over a minute to Strauss, who had to keep the intensity up to avoid slipping into De Villiers’ grip.
“I actually caught myself glancing back a few times” said Strauss, aware of De Villiers’ close proximity, even spotting the South African marathon champion close behind on a few of the more open sections of the course. Strauss managed to keep her focus forward, going as hard as she could manage, and it paid off in the end with a gap of nearly two minutes to De Villiers. Strydom secured third ahead of Colyn while Rabie rounded out the first five.
In the men’s race, Joubert and Botha were turning up the heat on the first climb, causing Van Zyl and Weber to slip off the back earlier on while Kruger held on a just a little while longer. Pieter Du Toit, Joubert and Botha would crest the first climb together with Weber slowly beginning to reel them in again.
The major separation came on Climb 2, Seven Peaks. The three Imbuko {type}DEV riders went into the singletrack at the base of the climb with Weber 15 seconds adrift, but it was Maco Joubert who emerged on the descent with a 50m gap to Botha as Du Toit chased them two minutes back with Weber another minute behind.
Joubert and Botha would battle it out at the front of the race all the way through to the final climb at Patatskloof where Botha unleashed an attack on the steep gravel road climb. The race seemed to be over with a 30-second gap between them and just 8km to the finish.
“When he went, I tried following him and either I was going to blow up or reel him back, but I just managed to measure my effort well” Joubert shared his thoughts on Botha attacking on the final climb.
When he saw Botha go, knowing his teammate as well as what was to come on the final 8km, he estimated that Botha would still be catchable in the final kilometres of riding. He read the race brilliantly and caught onto Botha’s wheel a couple kilometres later before Botha ran wide on a loose corner. Joubert took the opportunity to put the hammer down and blast to the finish, taking the win by 24 seconds.
Further back, Weber had eventually reeled in Du Toit. They went into the final climb together but Weber’s repeated attacks were too much for Du Toit to handle and the German rider left Du Toit behind to take third place. Keyser rounded out the top five.
Women’s Top 5
1st – Mariske Strauss (04:33:33)
2nd – Yolande De Villiers (+1:53)
3rd – Danielle Strydom (+14:28)
4th – Cathy Colyn (+23:16)
5th – Marie Rabie (+24:29)
Men’s Top 5
1st – Marco Joubert (03:38:49)
2nd – Wessel Botha (+0:24)
3rd – Sascha Weber (+05:18)
4th – Pieter Do Toit (+08:38)
5th – Matthey Keyser (+16:34)
To watch the replay of the live racing updates on the WILD AIR Sports Instagram channel CLICK HERE or find the event highlights video HERE.
Catch Interviews with the top men HERE. Catch Interviews with the top women HERE.
Source: Maryann Shaw Communications
