![\"ccs-62657-0-68762800-1495821096.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ccs-62657-0-68762800-1495821096.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>HB Kruger (left) leads BCX teammate Waylon Woolcock on a climb on stage one of the PwC Great Zuurberg Trek mountain bike race outside Port Elizabeth today. Photo: Shayne Minott.<\/span><\/p>\nGert Heyns and Arno du Toit of Ascendis-LCB, who clocked 2:41:36, was next to reach the finish at the Zuurberg Mountain Village with Marco Joubert and Andrew Hill of TIB Insurance-Momsen third in 2:42:02.<\/p>\n
Woolcock, who won the three-day Winelands Encounter in the Western Cape alongside the 26-year-old Kruger last month, said the race was far from finished.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe lead we have means very little in mountain biking terms and we will go into tomorrow knowing that we have to be cautious while also trying to maintain the pressure on our rivals,\u201d said the 34-year-old from Stellenbosch.<\/p>\n
He said all the favourites were together as they hit the first major descent and their sole focus was on making sure they didn\u2019t have any mechanicals.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe went into the first single-track and all the cross-country boys were very excited, but all I could think of was safety first \u2013 look after your tyres, look after your bike and yourself,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cArno and Gert went screaming down the single-track and had gapped us quite a bit, but when we came around a corner, we saw that Arno had a puncture.\u201d<\/p>\n
The two teams joined forces as they headed towards the day\u2019s first major test.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the climb just before the waterpoint, about 20km in, we saw Arno was taking a bit of strain, so we gapped them quite a bit,\u201d explained Woolcock.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we knew it was too early to ride alone from there as there are a lot of flat sections before the final climb.\u201d<\/p>\n
After the waterpoint, two teams \u2013 Hill and Joubert and Chris Wolhuter and Craig Boyes of Imbuko Wines \u2013 rode up to the leaders and Woolcock said the workload was shared evenly at that point.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was nothing tricky or technical as it was jeep track and mostly open district roads, but we knew the last climb was going to be decisive.\u201d<\/p>\n
As soon as they started to climb Zuurberg Pass that linked the valley at the bottom with the hotel at the top, Kruger went clear at the front while Imbuko Wines started to falter at the back.<\/p>\n