{"id":15583,"date":"2019-02-10T04:25:00","date_gmt":"2019-02-10T04:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/2019\/02\/10\/tankwa-success-for-strauss-and-stenerhag-on-the-merino-monster-r7704\/"},"modified":"2023-02-08T05:29:27","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T05:29:27","slug":"tankwa-success-for-strauss-and-stenerhag-on-the-merino-monster-r7704","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/tankwa-success-for-strauss-and-stenerhag-on-the-merino-monster-r7704\/","title":{"rendered":"Tankwa success for Strauss and Stenerhag on the Merino Monster"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today marked the third and highly anticipated \u2018Queen Stage\u2019 of the Momentum Health Tankwa Trek presented by Biogen.<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-30338500-1549772933.jpg\"<\/a>Team Silverback Fairtree win the third stage of the 2019 Momentum Health Tankwa Trek presented by Biogen. Photo: www.zcmc.co.za<\/span><\/p>\n

An adrenaline fuelled descent aptly labelled \u2018Du Toit Drop\u2019 created conflicting emotions as riders enjoyed the thrill of the downhill but also feared the climb to follow. In the back of everybody\u2019s mind, the infamous \u2018Merino Monster\u2019 loomed large – the meanest mountain biking ascent in South Africa.<\/p>\n

After yet another action-packed day of racing, Sweden\u2019s Jennie Stenerhag and South Africa\u2019s Mariske Strauss turned the women\u2019s general classification on its head. The powerhouse pair motored up the Merino Monster and created a significant gap on their rivals.<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-40023000-1549772935.jpg\"<\/a>The infamous Merino Monster. Photo: www.zcmc.co.za<\/span><\/p>\n

Not only did they claim the \u2018Queen of the Mountain\u2019 crown, but also snatched up the pink jerseys and overall lead for Silverback Fairtree.<\/p>\n

Behind them, a fierce battle for the podium unfolded. Ghost Factory Racing\u2019s Barbara Benko and Anne Terpstra gave everything to hold onto the pink jerseys, but suffered at the hands of the rugged Koue Bokkeveld terrain.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are riding on hardtail bicycles, which have their advantages and disadvantages. The only challenge is that they\u2019re very susceptible to punctures, and I think we picked up every single thorn out there today!\u201d explained Terpstra.<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-42840800-1549772930.jpg\"<\/a>Jennie Stenerhag on the climb of all climbs – the Merino Monster. Photo: www.zcmc.co.za<\/span><\/p>\n

Also looking to lay down an early season marker was Team Summit\u2019s Candice Lill and Annie Last. The pair has been tested both physically, mentally and mechanically over the last two stages. Their hope of making up time almost seemed lost today as they fell dismally behind on the Merino Monster.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s never over until it\u2019s over! When Annie and I reached the top of Merino we decided to give the descent everything we had left. Before we knew it we\u2019d passed two teams and finished in second place for the day!\u201d enthused Lill.<\/p>\n

Team Summit has now clawed back up the leader board to the third spot overall – less than two minutes behind Silverback Fairtree. After a testing day in the saddle, Ghost Factory Racing\u2019s Terpstra and Benko moved to second on the women’s general classification.<\/p>\n

As riders head into the final stage tomorrow, the race for the Tankwa Trek throne will be as heated as ever.<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-78258800-1549772931.jpg\"<\/a>Early morning start for the leading men at the 2019 Momentum Health Tankwa Trek presented by Biogen. Photo: www.zcmc.co.za<\/span><\/p>\n

As if the Merino Monster wasn\u2019t tormenting enough, the men\u2019s podium results were initially undecided today after an unfortunate wrong turn.<\/p>\n

After a powerful performance on the unrelenting climb, Urs Huber and Simon Stiebjahn (Team Bulls) together with Philip Buys and Matthys Beukes (Pyga Euro Steel) pulled away from the rest of the field and either team looked set to take the win.<\/p>\n

Surprisingly, Cannondale Factory Racing\u2019s Henrique Avancini and Manuel Fumic crossed the finish line first. They were followed home by Cannondale Factory Racing\u2019s Maxime Marotte and Cameron Orr, and then Denmark\u2019s Simon Andreasson and Jonas Lindberg in third.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe stage’s results will remain the same as the finish line positions. I have gone to see the point on the route where the wrong turn occurred, and could find no fault with the route markings,\u201d said Deon Steyn, UCI chief commissaire.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today marked the third and highly anticipated \u2018Queen Stage\u2019 of the Momentum Health Tankwa Trek presented by Biogen. Team Silverback Fairtree win the third stage of the 2019 Momentum Health Tankwa Trek presented by Biogen. Photo: www.zcmc.co.za An adrenaline fuelled descent aptly labelled \u2018Du Toit Drop\u2019 created conflicting emotions as riders enjoyed the thrill of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":28114,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[94],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-15583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-tankwa-trek"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15583","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=15583"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15583\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15583"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=15583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}