![\"ccs-62657-0-11784900-1461335034.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ccs-62657-0-11784900-1461335034.jpg\")
<\/a>Team Telkom\u2019s HB Kruger (left) and Johann Rabie had a comfortable start to the 2016 Old Mutual joBerg2c mountain bike race. The first stage took riders from Heidelberg in Gauteng to Frankfort in the Free State. Photo: Full Stop Communications<\/span><\/p>\nThe 29-year-old Team Telkom professional said the start of any stage race was a nervous affair for everyone.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one knows how well the other teams are going. It will take two or three days to see where everyone is sitting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rabie said he and Kruger were feeling good after the low pressure start.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had no problems, no health issues and no mechanicals. So far so good. We\u2019ll see how the legs feel after a couple of days of racing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Having done the event twice before, he said he\u2019s role would be to give his 26-year-old partner pointers as they went along.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know where the important sections are and where to save energy. So I\u2019ll mentor him in that respect.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rabie said that although their game plan was to take a conservative approach initially, they would take any opportunity to make up time on their rivals.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are a few places that we have in mind to possibly make a move or where there are danger areas.\u201d<\/p>\n
He made no bones about the fact that overall victory was what counted and where the glory was.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not going for stage wins per se, but if it comes it comes.\u201d<\/p>\n
If they were able to gain time where they had planned, he believed the stage wins would take care of themselves.<\/p>\n
Rabie felt his former teammate Gawie Combrinck and Nico Bell were their most dangerous competition.<\/p>\n
\u201cGawie has also won the past two years and Nico is a really strong rider and they are both on really good form.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen you have two other teams that you cannot write off in Pieter Seyffert and Hanco Kachelhoffer and Andrew Hill and Tyrone White.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the Old Mutual joBerg2c not being the most technical event, Rabie said it suited his riding style very well.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have raced it on two previous occasions and won both times, so I obviously like it.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the race called for powerful riders who could ride well on the flats and not just wait for the climbs and technical sections.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what joBerg2c is all about. If you have two powerful riders, you can make up a lot of time on the flats.\u201d<\/p>\n
Britain\u2019s Catherine Williamson, who is a multiple champion in the women\u2019s section, said she had enjoyed the untimed start.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy legs don\u2019t respond well on the first day of a stage race and being at altitude there is a limit to how hard I can go anyway,\u201d said the 34-year-old who is bidding to win the Lanham-Love Attorneys mixed section alongside Johan Labuschagne.<\/p>\n \u201cI ride a day like today on feel,\u201d said The Bicycle Company-Bestmed rider.<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t want to spend hours out there but at the same time you don\u2019t really want to hurt your legs too much.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is also a chance to enjoy the experience and vibe because from tomorrow you\u2019ll have your race head on.\u201d<\/p>\n Williamson said their approach was to make early time gains as soon as the proper racing started.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is not always possible, but it is nice to get in the lead and build up a buffer of a few minutes. Then you always have that gap to fall back on if things go wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n However, she said, in a tour of this length it was important to ride your own race.<\/p>\n Labuschagne said mixed racing was all about the lady.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is making sure she is always in a good zone, not overextending herself and keeping her safe and out of trouble. That is my role.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to read who is around us and develop our strategy from there.\u201d<\/p>\n They regarded America\u2019s Sonja Looney and Japan\u2019s Yuki Ikeda along with South Africa\u2019s Darren Lill and Candice Neethling as their main rivals.<\/p>\n Stage two will take the riders from Frankfort to Reitz, a distance of 93km with a mere 1 001m of climbing.<\/p>\n You can find the results for Day 1 here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/a>Catherine Williamson and Johan Labuschagne of The Bicycle Company-Bestmed had a comfortable start to the 2016 Old Mutual joBerg2c mountain bike race. The first stage took riders from Heidelberg in Gauteng to Frankfort in the Free State. Photo: Full Stop Communications<\/span><\/p>\n