Inaugural Drakensberg Extravaganza cycle race enjoyed by all

The inaugural Drakensberg Extravaganza road cycle race was enjoyed by all the cyclists who participated on Sunday in Bergville.

Travis Stedman, riding his final race as an U/16 before moving up to the junior category next year, and Frances Janse van Rensburg, riding her first road race ever, were the overall winners.

In a display of the potential future of men’s cycling in KZN, Stedman, U/23 runner-up Bevan Reddy and third-placed U/18 junior Cian Leveridge battled each other for 84km before Stedman eked out a race-winning advantage on the final 90-degree turn just 100m from the finish line.

In the women’s race, experienced mountain biker Frances Janse van Rensburg (Absolute Motion) powered away from pre-race favourite Tiffany Keep (Volvo Silverback) after about 30km and managed to work with some of the men’s racers. Keep could not jump across to the Van Rensburg group in the strong headwind and saw her hopes of victory ride away to eventually lose five minutes by the finish.

The riders set off from Bergville in hot, windy conditions in the foothills of the Drakensberg and after the first major climb, a group of four riders – Stedman, Reddy, Leveridge and Warren Moolman – had eased themselves off the front.

Moolman could not hold the group and after 30km, it was left to the other three to tackle the circular route on the undulating roads around the Woodstock Dam, before a fast final 25km with a strong tailwind back to Bergville.

Leveridge led the initial sprint into the last corner and looked to have managed the perfect set-up for Reddy, his older Absolute Motion teammate. But Stedman (Steel and Pipes for Africa) took a risk and was faster around the final 90-degree turn to give himself a three-bike length advantage starting the final sprint.

“It was an awesome race,” said Stedman after finishing. “It was quite slow in the beginning, so I wanted to get away. I knew there were a couple of guys who were strong enough to make a gap, so we stuck together. We dropped one of the other guys who was with us initially and then just worked together. It was nice working together with the older guys. It was a bit difficult at some times, with less gears than them (U/16 riders have restricted gearing). It is quite a privilege to win the first time this event was held.”

For both Stedman and Leveridge, this is their final race in their respective age groups. Stedman will be moving up to the U/18 ranks in January and Leveridge will be joining Reddy in the U/23 class.

For Van Rensburg, however, this race may be the start of something new.

“It was my first road race ever, so I did not know what to expect,” said the junior who has been competitive in women’s mountain bike events all year. “We were in the chasing group for the first 30 or 40 kilometres and then three of us attacked on a climb and managed to keep it away from there. Tiffany was with us until that attack.”

On Saturday night, Van Rensburg won the Most Improved Rider trophy at the KZN Mountain Bike Commission Awards Evening and the road riders had better watch out: she may be getting the same award for road riding next year.

On Saturday, Mauritian juniors Niels Hartmann and Hadrien Maingard, currently in South Africa on a mountain bike training camp, won the 20km mountain bike event at the Drakensberg Extravaganza.

The two formed the front group with 22-year-old Durban rider Keagan Matthews, and Hartmann powered away to a 13-second win. In the tight sprint for second, Maingard just edged ahead of Matthews to give the Mauritian pair a one-two finish.

Olivia Reitz was the first woman home on Saturday, with Tanith van Druten 31 seconds behind in second. Well done to all the cyclists who participated in the race!

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