Two mountain bike enthusiasts from Pretoria, Johan and Fanie Venter returned home from the Cape at the weekend having won the men’s team classification in this year’s gruelling TransCape MTB Race.

Being held for the second consecutive year the elite 750km, seven-day stage race saw 130 intrepid cyclists, including the Venters, take on a challenging weeklong trek, which included some mammoth climbing moments, tough riding conditions and picturesque views, from Knysna to Franschhoek.

Riding for team Barloworld Toyota Centurion, the Venters got their campaign in the event off to a solid start narrowly finishing behind solo international women pro riders, Esther Süss and Sharon Laws on day one of the race, from Knysna to George. They got home third, which put them in top spot in the men’s team classification and third overall.

On day two, faced with the daunting Montagu pass, a section through the Klein Karoo and the Gamkaberg, it was again Süss who set the early pace but with the Venters in hot pursuit.

Unfortunately for the local duo the Swiss legend showed why she is a women’s mountain bike marathon world champion by winning the tough 121km leg from George to Calitzdorp. With the mercury hitting the 40˚C mark Capetonian solo rider, Billy Stelling, started to show his metal and finished second with the Venters third again.

Day three, from Calitzdorp to Riversdal, would see the tables turned on the women as ultra-distance cyclist Stelling upped his game and made easy work of the 121km trek, which included the Rooiberg and Garcia pass. Not to be outdone the Pretoria team also finished ahead of the women coming second, keeping them in the driving seat in the men’s team category and third overall.

It was on day four that the Venters showed their steel winning the 107km leg from Riversdal to Swellendam. The Pretoria pair did grinding out a stage win, despite Johan’s bike having a technical issue.

The stage win kept the Venters at the top of the men’s team standings but also moved them to second position overall behind Stelling.

After the high of winning stage four it was back down to earth, literally, for the Venters on day five, from Swellendam to Greyton, as Johan took a tumble halfway through the stage. Riding hot on his heels Fanie couldn’t avoid his teammate and crashed into him with another rider also getting involved in the pile up.

The crash took its toll on the Pretoria team and they limped home, with broken helmets, scrapes and bruises. Having done enough early on in the race they remained top in the men’s team division but lost ground in the overall standings.

With a bandaged arm and numerous aches and pains Johan and Fanie showed great courage to battle their way through the penultimate stage, from Greyton to Villiersdorp, getting home, a bit off the pace, with a performance still good enough to keep them at the top of the men’s team classification.

Despite still feeling the effects of their fall the Venters took on the mighty Groelandberg and the Franschhoek pass with determination on the final day of the race and managed to cross the line at the beautiful La Couronne Wine Farm in Franschhoek with a final effort which saw them finish third in the men’s team category on the day but was still good enough to see the Pretoria pair collect the gold medal for winning this classification having completed the race in 32:06:15.