![\"ccs-62657-0-32518200-1445454546.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ccs-62657-0-32518200-1445454546.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Esther Suss (right) and Catherine Williamson of Sasol Racing lead Robyn de Groot of Ascendis Health across a river early on during Stage 3 of the Cape Pioneer Trek from Oudtshoorn to De Rust, South Africa on Wednesday. Photo credit: Zoon Cronje\/Nikon.<\/span><\/p>\nThe conditions took their toll on both bikes and riders on a stage that incorporated a passage through the Kammanassie, a remote, rugged mountain nature reserve that\u2019s seldom visited because it\u2019s roads are unreasonably steep, rocky and loose and challenging to ride, even by the most skilled mountain bikers.<\/p>\n
Leaders Matthys Beukes and Gert Heyns (SCOTT Factory Racing LCB 2) secured the stage win and extended their overall lead despite having to deal with a puncture early on; and the women\u2019s race lead changed hands, also due to a puncture suffered by overnight leaders, Esther Suss (SUI) and Catherine Williamson (GBR) of Sasol Racing.<\/p>\n
Beukes sliced a tyre just before 40km into the stage and was fortunate to get a wheel from SCOTT Factory Racing LCB stablemate, Philip Buys, who then set about repairing Beukes\u2019s tyre, fitting it to his bike and then making his way, with teammate Arno du Toit, to the finish.<\/p>\n
Beukes and Heyns clocked a time of 03 hours 58 minutes 42 seconds, almost 15 minutes ahead of runners-up Buys and Du Toit, who managed to ride through the Kammanassie without any mechanicals, unlike many of their rivals, who were curtailed by at least once puncture each.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Matthys punctured on a relatively smooth road, we knew it was important not to panic. We were fortunate to get Phil\u2019s wheel and then caught the two teams that were leading by the second water point. Through the Kammanassie we were able to ride about three-quarters of the big climb, which I think was further than most and certainly helped us build our lead,\u201d explained Heyns.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were surprised to see Phil and Arno finish second, but they are skilled and had a good run through the Kammanassie. You can lose or gain serious time there, depending on how well you can ride that kind of terrain,\u201d added Heyns.<\/p>\n Team Jeep\u2019s South African paring of Thinus Redlinghuys and Dylan Rebello, the Dutch duo of Bram Rood and Mos Gerben (KMC-Mitsubishi-Koga-Stauwdam Assen) and the Italian brothers Robert and Emanuele Crisi (Celeste Kento Avvenia) all suffered punctures during their Kammanassie traverse. They were fortunately all able to continue to the finish, but conceded time losses, both on the stage and overall.<\/p>\n Rood and Gerben finished third on the stage and are third overall, 4:40 behind the Crisis, who are now 18:41 behind Beukes and Du Toit going into Stage 4.<\/p>\n While many teams endured misfortune on the stage, the Kammanassie saved it\u2019s greatest act of spite for Suss and Williamson whose gains from the two previous days, were undone in a moment by a sliced tyre that took them an age to repair, in the process relinquishing their race-leadership pink jerseys to Day 1 victors, Robyn de Groot (RSA) and Jennie Stenerhag (SWE) of Ascendis Health.<\/p>\n De Groot and Stenerhag crossed the finish line of the 94km stage from Oudtshoorn to De Rust in 4:36:00, almost 19 minutes before the despondent Sasol Racing pair limped home. The Ascendis Health duo now has almost an eight-minute lead over Sasol Racing going into Thursday\u2019s Stage 4.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s never nice to lose the race lead because of a puncture. We know, we lost our lead in the Cape Pioneer Trek last year in the Kammanassie,\u201d said stage winner and new leader De Groot.<\/p>\n \u201cIt seems you either have good luck or bad luck in the Kammanassie. This year we were fortunate to have good luck and it\u2019s given us the stage win and the lead. We weren\u2019t ever that far behind Esther and Catherine today and felt a lot empathy for them when we passed them,\u201d said De Groot.<\/p>\n \u201cWe focussed on being conservative today and not taking any risks and I guess that helped us with a trouble-free Kammanassie crossing. We will do our best to defend this lead now, but as we all know, with mountain biking, things can change in a moment,\u201d added De Groot.<\/p>\n In the Veteran men\u2019s division Rob Sim and Doug Brown won the stage and extended their overall lead. But their nearest rivals overnight, Craig Gerber and Marius Nel (Cape Brewing Company) were victims of the Kammanassie, finishing well down the field more than an hour later. Leon Erasmus and Bradley Hempell (Salty Lion) finished the stage in second, with the Bus Boys pair of Greg Anderson and Deon Kruger taking third and moving up to second on the General Classification.<\/p>\n The Masters race saw Stage 1 winners Waleed Baker and Joao Mendes (PitStopSports2hHR) grab the victory ahead of arch rivals Lieb Loots and Izak Visage (Wilde Masters) to almost double their overall lead to over 12 minutes, while Kobus and Fienie Barnard captured their third successive stage win to extend their lead in the Mixed Category.<\/p>\n The Solo men\u2019s race saw Craig Uria (RSA) move from second to first overall with a dominant stage win that saw him cross the finish line fifth overall, while Lara-Ann Everts-Van de Venter (RSA) confirmed her dominance of the Solo women\u2019s category with another stage win.<\/p>\n At 66.3km, Thursday\u2019s Stage 4 may be short, but with 2150 metres of ascent and a mountaintop finish on the summit of the Swartberg Pass, is undeniably formidable. Dubbed #SwartbergShowdown, Stage 4 is sure to make even further impact on the race standings.<\/p>\n<\/a>Matthys Beukes (in yellow) and Philip Buys of SCOTT Factory Racing LCB set the pace early on during Stage 3 of the Cape Pioneer Trek from Oudtshoorn to De Rust, South Africa on Wednesday. Photo credit: Zoon Cronje\/Nikon.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a>Riders struggle up a climb through the Kammanassie Reserve during Stage 3 of the Cape Pioneer Trek from Oudtshoorn to De Rust, South Africa on Wednesday. Photo credit: Zoon Cronje\/Nikon.<\/span><\/p>\n