![\"image.jpeg\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image.4fa99f4efa131594e15d8b605bb42030-1.jpeg\" "\\"\\"")
Konny Looser and Marc Pritzen, racing as Team Honeycomb Pro Cycling, were the fastest of the Men\u2019s teams on Stage 1. Image Simon Pocock<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n\n\tLining the start of the FNB Wines2Whales Shiraz on Friday, 4 November, were 20 top mountain bike teams, all primed and ready to begin the race for the FNB Wines2Whales title, the Ciovita leader jerseys, and the R100 000 prize money to the winning team.
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\n\tThe pace was hot from the gun as the main protagonists, Toyota Specialized, Honeycomb Pro Cycling, Pyga Euro Steel, Imbuko {Type} DEV, made short work of the opening kilometres within Lourensford Wine Estate, through Idiom and to water point 2 in the shadow of the Gantouw Pass portage.
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\n\t\u201cThat was a hard day of racing,\u201d said Matt Beers of Toyota Specialized. \u201cWe started up the climb really hard as we wanted to make a select group of teams to race with and that worked well. Until the portage.\u201d
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\n\tAs it had done in the past two events, the portage played a pivotal role in the racing as Honeycomb Pro Cycling summited first with Pyga Euro Steel hot on their heels, and Toyota Specialized a matter of seconds back in third.
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\n\t\u201cI took a few shots before and on the portage, and I went into it into the red,\u201d said Nortje. \u201cBut that headwind after the portage was hard. I just tried to sit on Matt\u2019s wheel, but he\u2019s such a beast that even sitting in the slip is a huge effort.\u201d
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\n\t\u201cAt the portage it all shattered,\u201d explained Philip Buys of Pyga Euro Steel. \u201cEveryone seemed to struggle a bit with some cramping; after the portage it was just about spinning out the legs and sorting it all out. Then it was on again and right near the finish, the last climb was about two minutes of effort too long for me and Konny and Marc got the gap.\u201d
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\n\t \n\tThe final kilometres of the race, through Oak Valley\u2019s famed trails, most notably Greenhouse Effect, it was a one horse race as Pritzen and Looser made the most of the gap they\u2019d forced over Pyga Euro Steel to secure the stage win and the Ciovita leader jerseys. \tExxaro:<\/strong> Konny Looser and Marc Pritzen, racing as Team Honeycomb Pro Cycling, were the fastest of the Men\u2019s teams on Stage 1 of the FNB Wines2Whales Shiraz, which saw teams race from Lourensford Wine Estate to Oak Valley Estate. Konny Looser and Marc Pritzen, racing as Team Honeycomb Pro Cycling, were the fastest of the Men\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":22741,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-12879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12879"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12879\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62062,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12879\/revisions\/62062"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12879"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=12879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"image.jpeg\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/image.219e4e749bb4fbc251d159fe412e5f0c-1.jpeg\" "\\"\\"")
Image by Simon Pocock<\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n
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\n\t\u201cIt was a difficult race today. Matt [Beers] was pushing the pace super hard and Konny rode a really smart race as his legs weren\u2019t happy at the beginning of the race,\u201d explained Pritzen. \u201cBut he was really strong coming towards the finish, attacking and driving the pace. The tactics are so exciting in mountain biking and the experience that Konny has is incredible, so it\u2019s really great to learn from him as we race.\u201d
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\n\tThe partnership dynamic and the relationships between teammates once again proved to be key to success at the FNB Wines2Whales.
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\n\t\u201cI am super excited about the stage win and the jerseys! It\u2019s exciting but now there\u2019s some pressure because we can only lose them from now on.\u201d smiled Looser. \u201cWhat\u2019s interesting is that mountain biking is generational. When I was racing a few years ago it was with Christoph [Sauser] and I was the young one racing against Gawie Combrinck, Darren Lill and Nico Bell and now I\u2019m the oldest in the field racing with Marc. Things change, but the nerves still stay the same on the start.\u201d
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\n\tAfter Stage 1, less than 40 seconds separated Looser and Pritzen from Buys and Heyns, who finished the stage in second. Third place, three minutes and thirty seconds behind the stage winners, were Beers and Nortje of Toyota Specialized.
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\n\tMixed Category:<\/strong>
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\n\tThe FNB Wines2Whales Shiraz race also hosts the Toyota Mixed category racing which saw the MadMacs team of Yolande De Villiers and Charles McFall claim the stage win and the Ciovita leader jerseys ahead of Candice and Darren Lill \u2013 the latter, who came out of a 5-year-long retirement to experience the Serious Gees alongside his wife. Third place was claimed by Aurelie Halbwachs & Yannick of Moka Ranger SC.
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\n\tExxaro Racing:<\/strong>
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\n\tThis year\u2019s FNB Wines2Whales Shiraz saw the largest ever field of teams competing in the Exxaro jersey competition as 24 teams of riders from previously disadvantaged backgrounds began the stage at Lourensford Wine Estate. Halalisani Ndebele and Tlotlo Selala of Exxaro\/RMB 1 were first across the line in 03:23:36 and will begin Stage 2 in the Exxaro leader jerseys. Second place went to William Sello Majapholo & Keneth Kabelo Tshukukudu, while third on the stage went to Zola Ngxakeni & Ntlantla Nonkasa.
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\n\tFNB Wines2Whales Shiraz Results \u2013 Stage 1<\/strong>
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\n\tMen\u2019s Racing:<\/strong>
\n\t1. \u00a0 \u00a0 Honeycomb Pro Cycling: Konny Looser & Marc Pritzen | 02:47:51
\n\t2. \u00a0 \u00a0 Pyga Euro Steel:Gert Heyns & Philip Buys | 02:48:30 (+00:00:39.8)
\n\t3. \u00a0 \u00a0 Toyota Specialized: Matthew Beers & Tristan Nortje | 02:51:21 (+00:03:30.6)
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\n\tMen\u2019s Amateurs:<\/strong>
\n\t1. \u00a0 \u00a0 Hollard Namibia: Martin Freyer & Gerhard Mans | 03:11:34
\n\t2. \u00a0 \u00a0 Exxaro\/RMB1: Tlotlo Selala & Halalisani Ndebele | 03:23:36.5 (+00:12:01.9)
\n\t3. \u00a0 \u00a0 Exxaro\/Pepto: William Sello Majapholo & Keneth Kabelo Tshukukudu | 03:25:58.2 (00:14:23.6)
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\n\tMen\u2019s Masters:<\/strong>
\n\t1. \u00a0 \u00a0 Van Deijl Juweliers: Franso Steyn & Hannes Kotze | 03:23:48.9
\n\t2. \u00a0 \u00a0 RDX Powerbar: Jaco Davel & Andreas Studer | 03:25:56.4 (+00:02:07.4)
\n\t3. \u00a0 \u00a0 Staffanuti Stocks: Burger Bester & Hendrik Bester | 03:25:57.6 \u00a0(+00:02:08.6)
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\n\tMen\u2019s Grand Masters:<\/strong>
\n\t1. \u00a0 \u00a0 Nitro & Flash: Rowan Williams & Delaney Impey | 03:31:34.7
\n\t2. \u00a0 \u00a0 Robert Daniel: Piet Swiegers & Robert Sim | 03:39:00.7 (+00:07:26)
\n\t3. \u00a0 \u00a0 Primetime: Douglas Burger & Gavin Scholtz | 03:46:23.2 (+00:14:48.5)
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\n\tMen\u2019s Great Grand Masters:<\/strong>
\n\t1. \u00a0 \u00a0 Anna Foundation Great Grand Masters: Linus Van Onselen & Eben Espach | 03:37:08
\n\t2. \u00a0 \u00a0 North & South: Vaughan Ulyate & Jimmy Mills | 03:52:49.1 (+00:15:41.1)
\n\t3. \u00a0 \u00a0 Antipodes Pump For Peach: Bart Meganck & Ross Castle | 04:06:21 (+00:29:13)
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\n\tMixed:<\/strong>
\n\t1. \u00a0 \u00a0 MadMacs: Charles McFall & Yolande De Villiers | 03:23:42.1
\n\t2. \u00a0 \u00a0 Ciovita: Candice Lill & Darren Lill | 03:26:35.1 (+00:02:52.9)
\n\t3. \u00a0 \u00a0 Moka Rangers SC: Aurelie Halbwachs & Yannick Lincoln | 03:31:57.9 (+00:08:15.7)<\/p>\n
\n\t1. \u00a0 \u00a0 Exxaro\/RMB1:Tlotlo Selala & Halalisani Ndebele | 03:23:36.5
\n\t2. \u00a0 \u00a0 Exxaro\/Pepto: William Sello Majapholo & Keneth Kabelo Tshukukudu | 03:25:58.2 (+00:02:21.6)
\n\t3. \u00a0 \u00a0 Songo-91-Specialized: Zola Ngxakeni & Ntlantla Nonkasa | 03:31:57.7 (+00:08:21.2)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"