{"id":15295,"date":"2019-11-01T13:05:00","date_gmt":"2019-11-01T13:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/2019\/11\/01\/first-stage-sprint-sets-up-thrilling-fnb-wines2whales-shiraz-r7998\/"},"modified":"2023-02-08T05:13:05","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T05:13:05","slug":"first-stage-sprint-sets-up-thrilling-fnb-wines2whales-shiraz-r7998","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/first-stage-sprint-sets-up-thrilling-fnb-wines2whales-shiraz-r7998\/","title":{"rendered":"First Stage Sprint Sets-Up Thrilling FNB Wines2Whales Shiraz"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Shiraz race is the final event in the FNB Wines2Whales series. Following on the heels, or wheels rather, of the Chardonnay and Pinotage races, the Shiraz allows the elite men to revel in the media attention. It was not just the Elite Men who departed, from Lourensford on Friday 1 November, for Oak Valley, however. The Shiraz also features the Exxaro Jersey and Mixed Category races.<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-44557400-1572612685.jpg\"<\/a>Gert Heyns leads Arno Du Toit during Stage 1 of the 2019 FNB Wines2Whales. Photo credit: Xavier Briel.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the very front of the field, the Elite Men ensured the race got off to a firecracker start. NAD Pro MTB outsprinted PYGA Euro Steel and DSV Pro Cycling to take the finest of advantages into Stage 2. Nobody would have guessed that Stage 1 would end in a sprint the way it started.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur plan was to get rid of as many teams as possible\u201d Matt Beers of NAD Pro MTB revealed. \u201cAnd we managed to get rid of all the teams, but we knew it was a long way to go to Oak Valley; so, while we made it hard for PYGA Euro Steel to get back, we were glad that they caught us.\u201d<\/p>\n

The catch happened at Water Point 1, after 20 kilometres of the 65-kilometre-long stage. \u201cWe didn\u2019t panic when NAD got away on the Lourensford Neck climb\u201d Philip Buys pointed out. \u201cWe could still see them and we knew we could close the gap. We struggled a little with the fast start but we knew we would get stronger as the stage progressed.\u201d<\/p>\n

It did not quite turn out as PYGA Euro Steel would have liked, however. With Matthys Beukes nursing a cough, it appeared that he and Buys would be in trouble going up the Gantouw Pass portage. Their canny racing experience negated any physical disadvantage though. \u201cWe went to the front in the singletrack before the portage and were able to slow it down to our pace\u201d Beukes confessed. \u201cI\u2019m glad we didn\u2019t go up there any faster, I hate running!\u201d Wessel Botha, of NAD Pro MTB, laughed at Beukes\u2019 revelation.<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-70592900-1572612686.jpg\"<\/a>Philip Buys leads Matthys Beukes during Stage 1 of the 2019 FNB Wines2Whales Shiraz. Image Nick Muzik.<\/span><\/p>\n

PYGA Euro Steel\u2019s slowing of the pace allowed DSV Pro Cycling\u2019s Gert Heyns and Arno du Toit to join the front group. The pair had been a minute behind at the Idiom Wine Estate waterpoint, just 7 kilometres before the start of the portage. The trio of teams summited the Gantouw Pass portage together, setting up a thrilling finale to the stage.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the top of the pass to Oak Valley there aren\u2019t many places to get away\u201d Buys explained. \u201cDescending at over 50 kilometres per hour on the gravel road towards the finish made overtaking dangerous, so the order was pretty much set 2 kilometres out,\u201d he said. Picking up the story of the sprint Beers concluded: \u201cI\u2019ve lost enough sprints to Alan Hatherly to know exactly what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-50434700-1572612688.jpg\"<\/a>The Elite Men sprint for the Stage win during the 2019 FNB Wines2Whales Shiraz Stage 1. Photo credit: Xavier Briel.<\/span><\/p>\n

Beers crossed the finish line first, but with the second rider from each team determining the order, the result came down to Botha. The young NAD Pro MTB rider did not disappoint his senior colleague, holding off Beukes by 0.2 seconds and DSV Pro Cycling\u2019s Du Toit by 0.9 seconds.<\/p>\n

The top five places were rounded out by the surprise package of Jaguar Power Products and the SPOT Africa DEVMCO Umhlanga Arch teams. Keagan Bontekoning and Jean-Pierre Lloyd inherited fourth after the Devonbosch Stellenbosch team of Frans Claes and HB Kruger punctured on the Vergelegen Climb, 28 kilometres into the stage. The Jaguar Power Products then held the position throughout the rest of the stage. Timothy Hammond and Julian Jessop finished the stage in fifth, 7 minutes and 30.4 seconds behind the sprint for first.<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-18818100-1572612684.jpg\"<\/a>Frans Claes leads HB Kruger through a turn during Stage 1 of the 2019 FNB Wines2Whales Shiraz. Photo credit: Nick Muzik.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the Exxaro Jersey competition, the BMT Fairtree team finished an impressive fifteenth overall, on their way to stage victory. Luyanda Thobigunya is a formidably strong rider and won the Exxaro Jersey at the FNB Wines2Whales Shiraz event last year; alongside Baphelele Mbobo. In 2018 he ended up eighteenth overall, so he and Lorenzo le Roux are on course to improve that result.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday was easy\u201d Thobigunya smiled. \u201cI knew the trails from last year and that really helped. The portage is always hard though, and I was cramping a bit after that. It makes it difficult to get going again.\u201d Get going again he and Le Roux did, and they finished 3 minutes and 3.8 seconds ahead of the Exxaro\/PwC1 team of Lucky Mlangeni and Anrique Davids. FNB Change a Life 1\u2019s Bongumusa Zikhali and Sipho Kupiso claimed third.<\/p>\n

In the Mixed category, Jennie Stenerhag returned to the FNB Wines2Whales, just a week after securing third overall in the Chardonnay race. She and her partner, Craig Gerber, won the stage by 58.8 seconds over Marco Schaer and Yvonne Waltert. Conway Brett Oliver and Catherine Williamson were third on the opening stage of the Shiraz race.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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