Beers and Nortje, Le Court and Sanders crowned 2023 KAP sani2c champions

With 2 minutes 31 seconds to play with in Stage 3 of the KAP sani2c, Matt Beers and Tristan Nortje of Toyota-Specialized (02:40:48) only had to stick to the wheels of their closest rivals to ensure overall victory during the 86km between Jolivet Farm and Scottburgh Golf Club.

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Imbuko {Type} Dev’s Marco Joubert and Wessel Botha made a valiant effort to make a break, but Beers and Nortje did not give them an inch, until a sprint finish gave a stage win to the Imbuko {Type} Dev A team (02:40:44).

Marco Joubert broke away in the last two kilometres and sprinted alone up the grass to the Golf Club, leaving Botha to ensure he crossed the line before one of the two Toyota-Specialized riders, which he did, ahead of both Beers and Nortje.

Less than two minutes later, a split-second finish between Imbuko {Type} Dev B’s Pieter du Toit and Franko van Zyl (02:42:32), and the Insect Science team of Arno du Toit and Keagan Bontekoning (02:42:33) decided third and fourth for the stage, but was not enough to prevent Insect Science from claiming the third place in General Classification.

Beers says they were happy to rather play it safe and take the overall win, and not try and increase the gap today: “I put in a few little digs just to show them they were not going to drop us, it was a bit of a mental game, but they rode a good race at the end tactically with Marco slipping off at the front, the same thing I did at Epic.”

Nortje says: “They tried to drop us on a few climbs but we just showed that we were also strong, and we sat, as we did not have to attack. They also tried on the down hills a few times, but we played it safe.”

Marco Joubert says they gave everything to take the stage win: “We gave a good showing, and really took the race head on, and took two of the three stages. Matt and Tristan are tough to beat.”

Botha says: “We are quite evenly matched, but they got the better of us yesterday.”

Joubert says of his sprint finish: “In mountain bike racing it’s hard to make a plan and stick to it, you have to also take opportunities. I took a gap on the single track and then drilled it a bit to see if the gap would open up and it did, so I had to commit. Then I just put my head down, there was a head wind and it was super painful, but I am glad it paid off.”

The first split of the day happened at 11km, up Clint’s Climb, where the three teams of Toyota-Specialized, Imbuko {Type} Dev and Insect Science asserted themselves. At the first waterpoint at 23km, the Imbuko {Type} Dev B team of Pieter du Toit and Franko van Zyl were just 10 seconds off the front bunch, quickly followed by the Young Guns, Trek SA’s Kai von During and Justin Chesterton, and Unathi Nxumalo and Matthew Scott of Absolute Motion/Pump for Peace.

The Insect Science team were dropped by the front group a couple of kms before Vernon Crookes Game Reserve, and by the 56km mark they were joined by the Imbuko {Type} Dev B Team, where a battle for third place would start.

Du Toit says of losing the front two teams: “We knew that it’s part of the race where it’s going to be super hard. We were caught out at the back and couldn’t hang on – they kept going over the top and we did not have enough in the tank. We were then in the wind with Imbuko 2 following us, and it was a drag race to the line with them.”

The top three Young Guns teams have proven their ability to ride upfront, and the future of mountain bike stage racing is looking bright. Trek SA’s Kai von During and Justin Chesterton (02:46:13) took the win in the Young Guns category with their fifth place overall. The ACT team of Thomas Hudson and Keegan Tullis (02:51:00) were second Young Guns and eighth overall, while Unathi Nxumalo and Matthew Scott of Absolute Motion/Pump for Peace (02:54:24) were third Young Guns and ninth overall.

Women

Efficient Infiniti’s Kim Le Court and Samantha Sanders (03:11:40) dominated the race again and gained further time on General Classification with their clean sweep of the stage wins.

Le Court says: “It was super windy today, so we took it easy in the beginning to try to stay as safe as possible as there was so much dust you could hardly see the trail. Then the first climb came and I went to the front and pushed the tempo, and we rode away. We then just kept it steady to the end.

“It’s always good to come back to this event, for the family vibe and the way the school kids and the community are all involved in the organisation. It’s an awesome event.”

Sarah Hill and Elrika Harmzen of HH Women’s Racing (03:22:06), while not able to challenge Le Court and Sanders, had another day of solid riding in what was Harmzen’s first sani2c. She says: “Everyone said it was the fastest stage race in South Africa and it definitely lived up to that. Poor Sarah had to wait for me and made me dig deep, and I would love to be back next year.”  

Hill says: “It is so good to be back. This is the fastest sani2c I have ever experienced, with immaculate trails. It is awesome for us as an all-South African racing team to show up and really start breaking some barriers, getting back into racing as the new team on the block. I think next sani2c we will be more competitive.”

The Imbuko {Type} Dev women’s team of Danielle Strydom and Karla Stumpf ended their campaign on the first day after stomach issues saw them withdraw. This left the Veteran Women’s Double Spoke team of Kerry Campbell and Cheryl Robinson to take third place on the stage (04:18:16) and overall.

Bell Equipment’s Jason Davies and Hayley Smith convincingly won the Mixed category in a time of 03:17:30. Smith says they had an awesome three days of riding and worked well as a team.

“We just flew today, and loved every minute of it.”

STAGE THREE RESULTS

MEN

Imbuko {Type} Dev A (Marco Joubert/Wessel Botha) 02:40:44

Toyota-Specialized (Matt Beers/Tristan Nortje) 02:40:48

Imbuko {Type} Dev B (Pieter du Toit/Franko van Zyl) 02:42:32

Insect Science 1 (Arno du Toit/Keagan Bontekoning) 02:42:33

Trek SA (Kai von During/Justin Chesterton) 02:46:13

WOMEN

Efficient Infiniti (Kim Le Court/Sam Sanders) 03:11:40

HH Women’s Racing (Sarah Hill/Elrika Harmzen) 03:22:06

Double Spoke (Kerry Campbell/Cheryl Robinson) 04:18:16

MIXED

Bell Equipment (Jason Davies/Hayley Smith) 03:17:30

Restonic-02-AmriC-Faces (Rimani Sutton/Fritz Pienaar)  03:26:53

Sumeil (Ilse Nel/Philip Beukes) 03:30:16

YOUNG GUNS MEN

Trek SA (Kai von During/Justin Chesterton) 02:46:13

ACT (Thomas Hudson/Keegan Tullis) 02:51:00

Absolute Motion/Pump for Peace (Matthew Scott/Unathi Nxumalo) 02:54:24

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION

MEN

Toyota-Specialized (Matt Beers/Tristan Nortje) 08:50:25

Imbuko {Type} Dev A (Marco Joubert/Wessel Botha) 08:52:54 +2:28

Insect Science 1 (Arno du Toit/Keagan Bontekoning) 09:00:24 +9:58

Imbuko {Type} Dev B (Pieter du Toit/Franko van Zyl) 09:04:02 +13:56

Trek SA (Kai von During/Justin Chesterton) 09:13:12 +22:46

WOMEN

Efficient Infiniti (Kim Le Court/Sam Sanders) 10:42:41

HH Women’s Racing (Sarah Hill/Elrika Harmzen) 11:32:01 + 49:19

Double Spoke (Kerry Campbell/Cheryl Robinson) 14:36:44 + 03:54:03

MIXED

Bell Equipment (Jason Davies/Hayley Smith) 11:06:54

Restonic-02-AmriC-Faces (Rimani Sutton/Fritz Pienaar) 11:57:06 + 50:11

The Peanut Gallery (Steve Mee/Caitlin Mee) 12:18:28 + 1:11:33

YOUNG GUNS MEN

Trek SA (Kai von During/Justin Chesterton) 09:13:12

ACT (Thomas Hudson/Keegan Tullis) 09:31:35 +18:23

Absolute Motion/Pump for Peace (Matthew Scott/Unathi Nxumalo) 09:38:53 +25:41