{"id":16639,"date":"2017-06-12T07:45:00","date_gmt":"2017-06-12T06:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/2017\/06\/12\/mapstone-benson-master-waterberg-encounter-r6645\/"},"modified":"2023-02-08T06:43:20","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T06:43:20","slug":"mapstone-benson-master-waterberg-encounter-r6645","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/mapstone-benson-master-waterberg-encounter-r6645\/","title":{"rendered":"Mapstone, Benson master Waterberg Encounter"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rory Mapstone and Rex Benson won their second stage on the trot to take overall honours in the men\u2019s section of the three-day Liberty Waterberg Encounter mountain bike race at Sondela Nature Reserve near Bela-Bela in Limpopo today.<\/p>\n

The Bestmed Masters team completed the 59km final stage, which included 920m of ascent, in 2:19:52 to lift the title in 7:36:27.<\/p>\n

Gauteng Dairy\u2019s Charles Steyn and Ian McLeod, who won stage one, finished runners-up on the final day in 2:24:11 to consolidate their second place in the standings in 7:41:38.<\/p>\n

Last year\u2019s champion, Gertjie Harmse, who rode with his brother Louis in the colours of SS Timing-ASG, completed the day\u2019s podium in 2:24:59 to seal the same place in the general classification in 7:54:09.<\/p>\n

Mapstone and Benson, who trailed Steyn and McLeod by just over a minute after the first day, made the most of a technical section around 6km into the 51km second stage to surge into the lead.<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-60973500-1497253654.jpg\"<\/a>Rory Mapstone of Bestmed Masters (front right) sets the pace during stage three of the Liberty Waterberg Encounter, in partnership with STANLIB, at Sondela Nature Reserve near Bela-Bela in Limpopo today. Close behind is mixed race duo of Sanet Coetzee and her brother Anton small, with Rex Benson. Photo: Gerrie Kriel\/Tein Productions SA<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe got away going down a big rocky decent and just kept our heads down,\u201d said Mapstone, who is from Pretoria.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we came out at the bottom, we couldn\u2019t see the guys so we decided if they want to catch up they must work for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said they were able to keep their advantage on the course that started and finished at Elements Private Golf Estate and included 1 054m of vertical climbing to move into the overall lead heading into the final day.<\/p>\n

The last stage of the Liberty Waterkloof Encounter, in partnership with STANLIB, had been challenging but enjoyable after a tough start to the event, admitted Mapstone.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t feel marvellous on Friday, with my legs cramping, but I felt good today and was able to set the pace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their only scare came around 15km from the finish when they veered off course.<\/p>\n

They were able to rectify their mistake quickly and pushed hard towards the end to remain ahead of Steyn and McLeod, whose challenged faltered after suffering a puncture.<\/p>\n

Benson, who also lives in Pretoria, said they were lucky not to have lost more time on the opening day.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were very fortunate on day one. Rory damaged a link on his chain during the stage, which we only discovered at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n

They were able to replace the chain overnight and, according to him, were free of any further mechanicals during the race.<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-16609800-1497253708.jpg\"<\/a>The brother sister team of Sanet Coetzee (front) and Anton Smal won the overall mixed team category in the three-day Liberty Waterberg Encounter, in partnership with STANLIB, at Sondela Nature Reserve near Bela-Bela in Limpopo today. Photo: Full Stop Communications<\/span><\/p>\n

In the mixed section, Team Bestmed-ASG\u2019s Sanet Coetzee and Anton Smal cruised to victory in all three stages to take the title in 7:41:26.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought it was going to be an easy ride, based on the short distances, but got a bit of a rude awakening when we tackled the course,\u201d said Coetzee.<\/p>\n

\u201cDay two was exceptionally difficult. I thought it would be easy because it was just 51km, but it must have been one of the hardest 51km I have ever ridden.\u201d<\/p>\n

The women\u2019s race was won by the Woolworths pairing of Reinette Geldenhuis and Phryne Williams in 10:57:08.<\/p>\n

\nOverall results:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Men<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Rex Benson & Rory Mapstone (Bestmed Masters) 7:36:27
2. Charles Steyn & Ian McLeod (Gauteng Dairy) 7:41:38
3. Gertjie Harmse & Louis Harmse (SS Timing-ASG) 7:54:09
4. Neil Vlaming & Nicholas Cooke (Quick Fix) 8:05:33
5. Pieter Seyffert & Johann Seyffert (Ellsworth-ASG) 8:11:14
6. Hanco Kachelhoffer & Don Kohne (Ellsworth) 8:15:40
7. Garth de Jager & Kevin Walter (Beers & Gears) 8:19:34
8. Gary Cloete & James Ross-Marsh (Caffeine Kung Fu) 8:33:03
9. Johan Claasen & Shaun Botha (Nautical Mile) 8:40:28
10. Albertus Jooste & Justin van der Linde (Mad Buddies) 8:48:21<\/p>\n

Mixed<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Sanet Coetzee & Anton Smal (Bestmed-ASG) 7:41:26
2. Alta Kriegler & Hein Prinsloo (W2W) 9:14:36
3. Nicky Booyens & Gerrard Booyens (Mutual Safes) 9:57:04<\/p>\n

Women<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Reinette Geldenhuis & Phryne Williams (Woolworths) 10:57:08<\/p>\n

Stage 3 results:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Men<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Rex Benson & Rory Mapstone (Bestmed Masters) 2:19:52
2. Charles Steyn & Ian McLeod (Gauteng Dairy) 2:24:11
3. Gertjie Harmse & Louis Harmse (SS Timing-ASG) 2:24:59<\/p>\n

Mixed<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Sanet Coetzee & Anton Smal (Bestmed-ASG) 2:19:50
2. Alta Kriegler & Hein Prinsloo (W2W) 2:48:59
3. Nicky Booyens & Gerrard Booyens (Mutual Safes) 2:58:27<\/p>\n

Women<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Reinette Geldenhuis & Phryne Williams (Woolworths) 3:21:49<\/p>\n

Stage 2 results:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Men<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Rex Benson & Rory Mapstone (Bestmed Masters) 2:25:07
2. Charles Steyn & Ian McLeod (Gauteng Dairy) 2:27:19
3. Gertjie Harmse & Louis Harmse (SS Timing-ASG) 2:30:54<\/p>\n

Mixed<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Sanet Coetzee & Anton Smal (Bestmed-ASG) 2:30:54
2. Alta Kriegler & Hein Prinsloo (W2W) 3:01:10
3. Nicky Booyens & Gerrard Booyens (Mutual Safes) 3:07:37<\/p>\n

Women<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Reinette Geldenhuis & Phryne Williams (Woolworths) 3:35:50<\/p>\n

Stage 1 results:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Men<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Charles Steyn & Ian McLeod (Gauteng Dairy) 2:50:08
2. Rex Benson & Rory Mapstone (Bestmed Masters) 2:51:28
3. Gertjie Harmse & Louis Harmse (SS Timing-ASG) 2:52:38<\/p>\n

Mixed<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Sanet Coetzee & Anton Smal (Bestmed-ASG) 2:50:42
2. Leandre Gouws & Chris van der Merwe (Rookies) 3:31:48
3. Ashley Seller & Graham Hannigan 3:33:20<\/p>\n

Women<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Tracey Reynolds & Sharon Spiller (Spiller Sisters) 4:40:35\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rory Mapstone and Rex Benson won their second stage on the trot to take overall honours in the men\u2019s section of the three-day Liberty Waterberg Encounter mountain bike race at Sondela Nature Reserve near Bela-Bela in Limpopo today. The Bestmed Masters team completed the 59km final stage, which included 920m of ascent, in 2:19:52 to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":35370,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1257,1256,1255,1258],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-16639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-liberty-waterberg-encounter","tag-rex-benson","tag-rory-mapstone","tag-waterberg-encounter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16639","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=16639"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16639\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16639"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=16639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}