Hill and Louw claim 2014 dusi2c
Andrew Hill and Adriaan Louw led by a minute to cross the finish line at Blue Lagoon in Durban in the dusi2c.
HAVING negotiated some bitterly cold conditions early in the day, riders once again had clear skies and dry trails for the second day of the 2014 BSi Steel dusi2c.
It was the Team TIB pair of Andrew Hill and Adriaan Louw who inflated their overnight lead by a minute to cross the finish line at Blue Lagoon in Durban ahead of the chasing two teams of Quattro’s Tyron Bird and Tim Stark and Team Safire’s Trevor Rowe and Warren Price.
Following an interesting duel with Bird and Stark for a lot of the race, the leaders made a break that the chasing teams could not match and it was enough to give them the second stage win and the overall crown. Hill explained his apprehension heading into the final stage and mentioned that he knew he and Louw were going to have work hard before they could relax.
“We had a nice little lead going into the final stage but anything can happen in mountain biking. You just have to consolidate and make sure that you put a bit of lead into the guys before you can rest a bit on your laurels,” said Hill.
The route had been changed slightly with a new, permanent foot bridge being put in and Hill explains that the changes that were made have been good for the race. The race was getting close towards the end but a push from the leading pair meant that they opened up a big enough lead to claim the victory.
Louw and Hill will join the rest of the South African team for the upcoming UCI MTB Marathon World Championships in Pietermaritzburg and Louw believes that the dusi2c was great preparation for the event.
The eventual runners-up in this year’s race Tyron Bird and Tim Stark were chasing the race on day two and with a better knowledge of the first day Bird was happy with the way in which they were able to stay with the leading duo for the majority of final stage.
It was a day for the stronger riders, it seemed, as Team Safire – Trevor Rowe and Warren Price – moved up into the podium positions with a powerful ride that saw them end in a share for the third place with RMB Change a Life/BSi Steel’s powerhouse combination John Ntuli and Ndumiso Dontso.
The mixed race was won by 2013 African Mountain Bike Cross Country Champion Yolande Speedy and her partner Eugene Botha for TIB Insurance Brokers.
The combination lead the race through both days and won by a handsome margin of 27 minutes over Gavin and Jean Meyer. Having picked up a mechanical during the second stage the pair of Owen Gandar and Tamika Haw lost out their second place to the Meyer duo but managed to hold on to the final podium spot.
