Tristan Nortje soloed to victory in commanding fashion, breaking the 12-year-old course record by nearly 3 minutes at the 2024 Lions Karoo to Coast. Catherine Colyn was as dominant in the women’s race winning by 11 minutes and 42 seconds; on Sunday, 22 September.
A year on from the event which was cancelled, due to the Heritage Day storm which battered the Cape in 2023, the weather for the 25-year-old race was near perfect with clear skies and cool temperatures prevailing throughout the day.
When the sun rose on Uniondale the mercury was hovering dangerously close to zero, but as it climbed in the cloudless sky it got gradually warmer. It never became hot though, which helped the riders set fast times. Only headwinds for the final 14 kilometres, from Gouna to the finish line on the Knysna Sports Fields ensured Nortje and Co. had to work hard throughout the 95 kilometre course. The route itself was in a highly variable condition, at times on the Prince Alfred’s Pass the gravel was smooth and fast rolling, but at others it was tacky and slow, and some of the descents were washed out by the rain earlier in the week.
There had been speculation pre-race if gravel bikes would prove faster, but none of the favourites risked starting on skinny tyres. “My parents used to live in Knysna and I rode these roads a lot. They get rutted with relatively little rain and I thought one could lose up to a minute on each descent, compared to a mountain bike,” Colyn speculated. “That is why I decided to race my mountain bike.”
That proved a wise decision as descending proved near as important as climbing for Colyn as she rode to victory. “I knew the guys were going to start really fast, so I made the decision to go over my limit in the early kilometres and then try to establish my rhythm after that,” the Vida e Caffè Rocacorba Collective rider said. Over the summit of the Ou Wapad climb Colyn held a 1 minute and 48 second advantage over Lehane Oosthuizen.
Over the next 25 kilometres Cherise Willeit worked her way into second, passing Oosthuizen but Colyn remained out front on her own – extending her advantage, descending with supreme confidence to back up her strong climbing. By the 65 kilometre mark her lead was 7 minutes, but she kept pushing on. “I knew I had a good lead, but Cherise [Willeit] is like a dog with a bone, she never gives up. In the headwind at the end, I was worried that she might catch me so I just kept fighting to the finish line.”
This tactic served the 2024 champion to perfection as she crossed the line in 3 hours, 53 minutes and 40 seconds, 11 minutes and 42 seconds ahead of her nearest rival. Willeit was 2 minutes and 25 seconds ahead of Oosthuizen in the battle for second and third. Rozaan Bekker and Roxy Kemp rounded out the top five places.
As Colyn had explained it had been Nortje’s aggression which ensured a fast start. The Honeycomb Pro Cycling rider stretched the field from the foot of the Ou Wapad ascent and went solo within 7 kilometres of the start. “The plan was always to attack early and ride my own race,” Nortje explained. “I knew the record was there for the taking, but I was worried that in a group we might end up looking at each other. So, I wanted to go alone.”
The chase behind Nortje was hampered by Cronje Beukes’ puncturing, though the Valley Electrical Titan Racing man had already been slightly distanced by Johan van Zyl when he flatted. Beukes’ puncture, on the long descent to De Vlugt put him behind Jayden Durandt on the road, but he managed to catch the young Bicycle Service Company rider on the climb to Kruisvallai. “I had to stop twice fix a puncture and bomb my wheel, then caught Jayden [Durandt] and we worked well together trying to close the gap to Johan [van Zyl],” Beukes explained. “Things didn’t go exactly to plan, but I’m still happy with how I raced.”
Beukes, Durandt and Van Zyl could never reduce their deficit to Nortje. The leader’s only focus in the second half of the course was the record. “The last section was tough into the headwind. When I got onto the main road, I didn’t know exactly how much further I had to go. I knew the average speed I had to beat to break the record, so I was watching that – struggling into the headwind. I was very relieved when I saw the field, turned into the finishing straight and saw the clock showing the race time.”
Nortje’s winning time of 3 hours and 31 seconds, is 2 minutes and 42 seconds quicker than Charles Keey’s 2012 previous best. The newly crowned champion was 6 minutes and 54 ahead of Van Zyl in second, and nearly 13 minutes up on Beaukes in third. Durandt finished fourth on the day; while Freddie Visser recovered from a slow start to finish strong, leapfrogging from 15th on the road to fifth on the finish line in the second half of the race.
“Having grown up with my dad riding the Lions Karoo to Coast it was very special to race it myself now too,” Colyn concluded.
“I think the return to Cycling South Africa seeding has been a great success,” Race Director Zandile Meneses reflected. “It certainly led to faster times and exciting racing. It is particularly good to see Tristan [Nortje], Cronje [Beukes], Jayden [Durandt] and Roxy [Kemp] – who all hail from George – do so well. And for someone with strong Knysna links, in Cathrine Colyn, win the women’s race. One of our big reasons for returning to elite racing was to foster local talent by giving them the opportunity to race against South Africa’s best mountain bikers. Not only was that the case this year, but the Garden Route riders dominated the event. That’s an achievement that Southern Cape Cycling can be very proud of.”
2024 Lions Karoo to Coast Results
Men’s:
- Tristan Nortje (3:00:31)
- Johan van Zyl (3:07:25 | +6:54)00
- Cronje Beukes (3:13:24 | +12:53)
- Jayden Durandt (3:14:59 | +14:28)
- Freddie Visser (3:23:54 | +23:23)
Women’s:
- Catherine Colyn (3:53:40)
- Cherise Willeit (4:05:22 | +11:42)
- Lehane Oosthuizen (4:07:47 | +14:07)
- Rozaan Bekker (4:10:56 | +17:16)
- Roxy Kemp (4:14:32 | 20:52)
To view the full results from the 2024 Lions Karoo to Coast click here. For more information visit www.karootocoast.com.
Source: Seamus Allardice Media
