![\"ccs-62657-0-61913100-1476891065.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ccs-62657-0-61913100-1476891065.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Erik Kleinhans and Matt Beers relished the forest singletrack and secured their second stage win of the 2016 Cape Pioneer Trek international mountain bike stage race in George, South Africa on Wednesday. Photo credit: www.zcmc.co.za<\/span><\/p>\nBeers and Kleinhans (Full Suss\/Topeak Ergon\/Red-E) were the primary aggressors from the start of the relatively short 57km stagea, which started and finished at Van Kervel School, George. They crossed the finish line in a time of 02 hours 10 minutes 50 seconds, just one second ahead of Gawie Combrinck and Nico Bell (Team NAD Pro), the overall leaders.<\/p>\n
There was another sprint for third place between Team Spur\u2019s James Reid and Julian Jessop and CBC Elite\u2019s Konny Looser and Daniel Gathof, with Reid and Jessop just grabbing the final podium spot.<\/p>\n
Tuesday\u2019s stage winners, Peeter Pruus and Peeter Tarvis (KOMO\/RMW) had a nightmare of a stage with first a crash and then ongoing tyre trouble that saw them finish 13th, 26:28 down. This dropped them from second on the General Classification overnight, just 13 seconds off Yellow, to seventh, over 26 minutes back.<\/p>\n The setback to the Estonian pair, winners of Stage 2, sees Combrinck and Bell now hold a comfortable lead of 12:41 over new second-place holders, Looser and Gathof, who are 2:02 up on Erik Groen and Jeroen Boelen (Stappenbelt Specialized) with three days of racing remaining.<\/p>\n \u201cI was already feeling better yesterday after being so ill on Monday\u2019s stage. Must have been a stomach bug. But Matt and I decided that we would attack and make the pace hard from the very start today,\u201d explained Kleinhans.<\/p>\n \u201cMatt grew up on a farm near here and I come from George, so this was our only real shot at some home-town glory. We were both super motivated and really didn\u2019t have anything to lose. A few teams hung on to us, but in the end, only Gawie and Nico were able to stick with us on what really was a great day.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was quite a lot of singletrack, which we loved and the route was really scenic. The fact that it was relatively short also made for more intense racing, which increases the pressure too,\u201d added Kleinhans, confirming that he and Beers would be more conservative on Thursday\u2019s longer stage.<\/p>\n Cherie Redecker and Mariske Strauss (OMX Pro) won another stage to grow their lead in the women\u2019s category. But an exciting battle for second place ensued between Catherine Williamson and Leana de Jager (Klein Karoo Ladies) and Hannele Steyn and Katja Steenkamp (CWC Breakaway).<\/p>\n Williamson and De Jager eventually claimed the runner-up spot on the stage and moved into second place overall, on a day of reprieve after having struggled with tyre trouble on Stage 2. Steyn and Steenkamp, are just 20 seconds back in third in the overall, partly as a result of the withdrawal of Team Garmin\u2019s Aurelie Halbwachs and Yolandi du Toit. Halbwachs struggled with illness on Stage 2 and was unable to continue.<\/p>\n In the Mixed category, Yolande de Villiers and Neil Ungerer (Ultimate Cycling) secured another stage win, extending their overall lead to just over 12 minutes on main rivals, Kobus and Fienie Barnard (Klein Karoo Mixed).<\/p>\n In the Veteran men\u2019s division the two top teams were virtually inseparable on Wednesday. They finished with a sprint that saw Iniel Hattingh and Vickus Boschoff (Klein Karoo Ko Op) claim first place ahead of Fanie Venter and Igna de Villiers (LGE Midas Businessprint). However Venter and De Villiers maintain their eight minute lead in the overall race.<\/p>\n Linus van Onselen and Izak Visagie (Anderson Masters) continued their dominance in the Master\u2019s race on Wednesday, winning their fourth successive stage and increasing their lead to 1:27:13 over the Pitstop pair of Niccolo Violati and Roberto Gallo.<\/p>\n The shorter stage saw smaller time gaps in the Solo men\u2019s race, but Czech rider Jiri Krivanek maintained his superiority by winning the stage and adding more time to his overall lead over Franco Pelser, while in the Solo women\u2019s race Nicky Giliomee extended her overall lead with another commanding stage win.<\/p>\n Thursday\u2019s Stage 4 over 94km with 1650 metres of ascent sees the race move into the Karoo, a semi-desert region with unforgiving terrain and extreme heat. The riders will head from George to Oudtshoorn via the iconic Montagu Pass and Chandelier Game Reserve.<\/p>\n The stage will start at 07h30 Central African Time\/06h30 Central European Time. To stay up to date with the action:<\/p>\n<\/a>European marathon champion, Peeter Pruus (pictured) and his teammate, Peeter Tarvis, were severely hampered by tyre trouble, slipping from second to seventh overall on Stage 3 of the 2016 Cape Pioneer Trek international mountain bike stage race in George, South Africa on Wednesday. Photo credit: www.zcmc.co.za<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a>Nico Bell (pictured) and Gawie Combrinck finished second and improved their grip on the overall lead on Stage 3 of the 2016 Cape Pioneer Trek international mountain bike stage race in George, South Africa on Wednesday. Photo credit: www.zcmc.co.za<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a>Mariske Strauss (pictured) and teammate, Cherie Redecker, were all smiles after winning another stage and extending their overall lead on Stage 3 of the 2016 Cape Pioneer Trek international mountain bike stage race in George, South Africa on Wednesday. Photo credit: www.zcmc.co.za<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a>The majority of the competitors sleep in tents in the race village at the Cape Pioneer Trek international mountain bike stage race in South Africa. Photo credit: www.zcmc.co.za<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a>The shorter stages ensure more intense racing and close finishes, including this group gallop at the end of Stage 3 of the 2016 Cape Pioneer Trek international mountain bike stage race in George, South Africa on Wednesday. Photo credit: www.zcmc.co.za<\/span><\/p>\n\n