In what could be described as the final battle cry before the start of the Cape Epic Karl Platt and Ariane Kleinhans took dominating wins at the third leg of the MTN National MTB Series driven by Nissan in Tulbagh, Western Cape announcing their intent to rivals.
Image credit: Zoon Cronje/XtreMedia
The race was described as “brutal, toughest race I’ve ever done, real mountain biking, unforgiving and really rough” by some of the big names in the sport. The power and number of the Bulls team driving the tempo from the gun together with Konny Looser (Wheeler) from Switzerland that resulted in a group of five going clear containing only one South African namely Johann Rabie…
Looser (Wheeler) was one of the main aggressors and went on to claim the King of the Mountains prime at the 70km mark. Looser together with Topeak Ergon’s Robert Mennen and the Team Bulls powerhouse combo of Urs Huber and Karl Platt continued to exchange blows over the remaining kilometers.
Platt was clearly on form and even after missing a marker and losing his minute lead he managed to fight through cramps and regain the lead. An elated Platt crossed the line first saying “I badly wanted the win” in what must be a massive confidence boost only a week out from starting the Cape Epic. Platt was followed home by Urs Huber who just managed to ride away from Robert Mennen in the last kilometer.
First South African across the line Erik Kleinhans (Team RECM) fought back valiantly from as far back as tenth position at the 70km mark to cross the line 4th. Konny Looser can only wonder what could have been after showing impressive form over the first two thirds of the race only to lose a bottle at a critical point and dehydrating in the unforgiving heat but still managed to roll over in 5th place utterly exhausted.
Image credit: Zoon Cronje/XtreMedia
The class of the women’s race shows when you look at the five current national champions that topped the podium. Current Swiss champ and South African sweetheart Ariane Kleinhans (Team RECM) claimed the win followed by British champion Sally Bigham (Topeak Ergon) in second and Swedish champ Jennie Stenerhag (Cape Brewing Company) in third. South African champing Robyn de Groot (Biogen Toyota) finished in fourth and Vera Adrian the current Namibian champ in fifth.
An ecstatic Ariane Kleinhans (Team RE:CM) rode a brilliant tactical race to outwit and outclass the storming Brittain “Iron Sally”. “I really enjoyed the race, the trails were awesome and I really raced a clever race” Kleinhans commented afterwards. “I saw Sally had a bit of a slip and battled to keep up and after getting a bit of a gap I pushed harder” Kleinhans commented. According to the Topeak Ergon mechanic Bigham’s front shock malfunctioned causing her to slow down through the technical sections.
The general consensus on the day was that it was a real mountain bike race, really tough but really enjoyable. Waylon Woolcock tweeted after the event that if that doesn’t prepare you for what you can expect next week at the Epic nothing will!
MTN Ultra Marathon elite men
1. Karl Platt (Team Bulls) – Germany 04:34:27
2. Urs Huber (Team Bulls) – Switzerland 04:37:12
3. Robert Mennen (Topeak Ergon) – German 04:37:17
4. Erik Kleinhans (Team RECM) – South Africa 04:37:39
5. Konny Looser (Wheeler) – Switzerland 04:39:21
6. Stefan Sahm (Team Bulls) – Germany 04:42:24
7. Simon Stiebjahn (Team Bulls) – Germany 04:42:24
8. Waylon Woolcock (Cannondale Blend) – South Africa 04:43:38
9. Darren Lill (Cannondale Blend) – South Africa 04:46:58
10. Nico Bell (Team RECM) – South Africa 04:50:28
MTN Marathon elite women
1. Ariane Kleinhans (Team RECM) – Switzerland 03:17:32
2. Sally Bigham (Topeak Ergon) – Great Brittain 03:19:51
3. Jennie Stenerhag (Cape Brewing Company ) Sweden 03:23:17
4. Robyn de Groot (Biogen Toyota) South Africa 03:32:58
5. Vera Adrian (CWC) Namibia 03:35:57
