Local mountain bike star wins tough Southern Cape race in new record time
A young mountain biker from Pretoria won the 2021 Attakwas Extreme, one of the most difficult mountain bike races in South Africa with a route that stretches over difficult terrain between Oudtshoorn and Groot Brak River in the Southern Cape, in a new record time.
Pretoria’s Wessel Botha confirmed his status as a new marathon-racing star when he won the 2021 Momentum Medical Scheme Attakwas Extreme presented by Biogen in a new record time this past weekend.
The Team Type Dev NanoTime racer had to contest a tight three-way sprint to claim his maiden victory in South Africa’s toughest one-day mountain bike race.
South African marathon champion, Yolande de Villiers (The Coopetto) took a comfortable victory in the women’s race, finishing an impressive 30th overall.
It was a day that saw a limited field of riders due to Covid-19 restrictions tackling the 121km race from Oudtshoorn to Groot Brak River in near perfect weather conditions.
Botha, who finished third at the 2020 edition, was eager to improve on that result and was attentive throughout the demanding race, which included 2900 metres of climbing.
The 22-year-old professional racer from Pretoria, outlasted most of the field and eventually outsprinted his final two rivals to claim the win in a time of 04 hours 46 minutes 22 seconds.
Second place went to Nambia’s Alex Miller (Trek Vaude) and third to South African Marco Joubert (Imbuko Giant), both also beating the previous record.
Photo: ZC Marketing Consulting
Botha’s winning time was 01:34 quicker than the previous record of 4:47:56 set by Swiss ace Urs Huber in 2014. But the course for the 2021 edition was around 1500 metres longer as the organisers needed to create a detour near the finish because of damage to the route caused by recent rain.
As is usually the case, the rugged terrain and steep gradients of the section through the Attakwas Reserve after Water Point 2 was the most decisive. Pieter du Toit (Pyga EuroSteel) claimed the King of the Mountain prize at the 56km point, but he punctured on the descent. That left a group of five in the lead comprising two-time winner and pre-race favourite, Matthys Beukes (Pyga EuroSteel), Tristan Nortje (Imbuko Giant), Miller, Joubert and Botha.
Beukes then also punctured on the descent putting paid to his hopes of contesting the win and Nortje was distanced on the climb with 87km completed, leaving Miller, Joubert and Botha to tackle the finale at the front.
“Initially Alex tried some attacks but he couldn’t drop us so we decided to work together and ensure we kept our lead. Alex managed to get in front on the last downhill, but he went a bit wide on a turn and I managed to pass him on the inside. From there it’s quite twisty and narrow to the finish and so I just kept the pressure on and was able to cross the finish line first,” explained an elated Botha.
Unlike the men’s race, the women’s race saw De Villiers lead from start to finish. It was the 48-year-old’s ninth participation in the iconic race and her third victory.
The first ten finishers at the Attakwas Extreme get gold medals and all finishers under six hours get silver medals with bronze medals going to the remainder of the finishers. This year there were only 30 riders that broke the six-hour silver-medal cut-off.
For full results, visit www.atta.co.za
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