Superb leg performance wins local MTB title
"We knew Gawie had this one in the bag and we are really glad for him. Tactically I didn't have a good day on the bike and I could have won, but in the end I'm happy with my second place," said Bell.
“I had a good day with my legs and I am happy to have been crowned as the new South African Marathon Champ,” local rider Gawie Combrinck (Team EAI Cycling) said while taking a breather after registering a gruelling time of 04:46.53 on the bike.
Combrinck, and Robyn de Groot (Ascendis Health) who is locally coached by Bosseau Boshoff of Infinita Academy, walked away with the National Marathon MTB title on Saturday in chilly conditions at the 2015 Ashburton Investments National MTB Series Van Gaalen.
The initial bunch of the elite men included Nico Bell, Max Knox and Lourens Luus but Knox pulled out at about 50 kilometres, not having the legs on the day. Bell and Austrian Konny Looser worked together to try and pull back Combrinck, but he had enough of a lead to win.
“We knew Gawie had this one in the bag and we are really glad for him. Tactically I didn’t have a good day on the bike and I could have won, but in the end I’m happy with my second place,” said Bell.
Combrinck went out like a scolded cat – he had a four-and-a-half minute lead going into the four big climbs and managed to stick it out till the end quite comfortably. “It was good fun. I liked going fast over the rocks,” he said after the race.
In the women’s race Samantha Sanders of Valencia was part of the leading bunch for the first 30 kilometres until an error occured which caused her to fall behind.
Unfortunately working alone was difficult, so a fifth place was a good enough consolation in the circumstances.
“The course was super amazing and very rough. It was a technical route and fun, I enjoyed it overall but my goal was to be on the podium so I am bummed with the result.
I just want to thank Bosseau of Infinita Academy and also Valencia who always give me the best so that I can race against the best.”
Another local sensation, Willie Smit of Team Europcar competed in the Kremetart Road Cycle Race over the 175 kilometre stage race this past weekend. Smit was the overall winner of the race.
