![\"ccs-62657-0-70984100-1495389997.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ccs-62657-0-70984100-1495389997.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Robyn de Groot (Ascendis Health) made her five out of five victory when she claimed the gold medal in the Elite Women’s race at the 2017 SA MTB Marathon Championships at Cascades MTB Park in Pietermaritzburg on Sunday 21 May. Photo: BOOGS Photography<\/span><\/p>\nDe Groot raced to her fifth National Marathon Championship victory in a time of two hours 51 minutes 59 seconds when she beat Amy Beth McDougall and Christie-Leigh Hearder to the winning position in the 60-kilometre race.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe race was pretty tough,\u201d said De Groot. She had been nursing a cold for the past week and had finally felt okay on the day of the race. \u201cI wasn\u2019t feeling so well at the first water point and thought about calling it a day. Amy was racing very hard and had me under pressure. I pushed on and put some pressure on Amy and got a nice gap and just maintained that until the end. It\u2019s really nice to make it five of five,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Defending Men’s Champion Max Knox struggled with a puncture close to 20 kilometres into the race and had to pull out. Strong contender Gawie Combrinck was also forced to withdraw from the race due to an injury at the sani2c a week prior.<\/p>\n
Going up the concrete climb towards water point three, Pyga Eurosteel\u2019s Philip Buys could feel an onset of cramp beginning to hit him after a week of being unwell, forcing him to stop for close to two minutes while the rest of the riders caught up, falling into fourth place. On the last 20-kilometre loop, Buys fought a tough battle to get back to second place, and Ascendis Health\u2019s Gert Heyns finished in third.<\/p>\n
When chatting about his race, Elite Men\u2019s winner, Nico Bell said: \u201cIt was a hard route today. There was a lot of climbing and at 35 kilometres in there was a very steep climb. When we hit the concrete section, Philip (Buys) upped the pace and I was on his wheel. As he sat up I went past him and I kept going harder and harder. I tried hard to open it up even more.\u201d<\/p>\n Bell opened up a gap of over two minutes and forty seconds then kept it safe and risk-free to claim the victory in 3:33:11 over the 80-kilometre distance. \u201cI realised that I was quite a gap ahead and knew that they wouldn\u2019t catch me on the downhill. I\u2019m just really happy to walk away with the win today,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/a>Nico Bell (NAD Pro Team) claimed the top honours in the Elite Men’s race at the 2017 SA MTB Marathon Championships at Cascades MTB Park in Pietermaritzburg on Sunday 21 May. Photo: BOOGS Photography<\/span><\/p>\n