![\"ccs-62657-0-24558500-1445360339.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ccs-62657-0-24558500-1445360339.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Arno du Toit (left) and Philip Buys of SCOTT Factory Racing LCB 1 celebrate winning Stage 2 of the Cape Pioneer Trek from George to Oudtshoorn, South Africa, on Tuesday. Photo credit: Zoon Cronje\/Nikon.<\/span><\/p>\nThe winners of Sunday\u2019s opening prologue stage struggled through the final 30km of Monday\u2019s stage, losing their overall lead in the process. But on Tuesday the South Africans were back in the podium hunt, breaking clear of their rivals in the final 10km to clock a time of 03 hours 18 minutes 22 seconds for the haul from George to Oudtshoorn<\/p>\n
Overnight leaders and Stage 1 winners, Matthys Beukes and Gert Heyns (SCOTT Factory Racing LCB 2) finished fourth on the stage but held onto their overall lead, while in the women\u2019s division, Sasol Racing\u2019s Esther Suss (SWI) and Catherine Williamson (GBR) won the stage and extended their overall lead.<\/p>\n
At 86km, the stage was relatively low on distance, but high on drama. The early climb up the Montagu Pass saw leaders Beukes and Heyns crush any ambitions of an early assault on their lead when they set a blistering pace to the summit of the scenic, twisty 7.5km ascent. The lead pack splintered behind them and on the following descent, just five teams remained at the head of the race.<\/p>\n
After 20km covered, just before the first Tech Zone, Erik Kleinhans, winner of the Cape Pioneer Trek in 2013, and teammate Chris Wolhuter, racing as Asrin Cycling, put in an attack that saw them move clear of their rivals, eventually building a lead of more than two minutes on the chase group. They\u2019d been dropped on the Montagu Pass, but had chased back to the leaders successfully and virtually went straight onto the offensive.<\/p>\n This group comprised the two SCOTT Factory Racing LCB teams, the Italian brothers Roberto and Emanuele Crisi (Celeste Kento Avvenir), the Dutch pairing of Bram Rood and Mos Gerben (KMC-Mitsubishi-Koga-Stauwdam Assen) and the Jeep team of Dylan Rebello (RSA) and Thinus Redlinghuys (RSA).<\/p>\n With strength in numbers, the pursuing pack started to cut down their lead, but then with 25km remaining, Wolhuter sustained a rear-wheel puncture, which saw them lose their lead and heaps of time.<\/p>\n With a stage win beckoning, the SCOTT Factory Racing LCB teams pushed he pace through the rough terrain in the Chandelier Game Reserve and as they exited, with 15km left, Buys and Du Toit launched an attack that turned out to be the stage-winning move. The relatively flat finale saw them gain just less than a minute on their rivals with Rood and Gerben taking second place ahead of the Crisi brothers.<\/p>\n \u201cWith the gap coming down, we were confident of catching Erik (Kleinhans) and Chris (Wolhuter), but it\u2019s really bad luck that they had to lose their lead with a mechanical,\u201d said stage winner Arno du Toit.<\/p>\n \u201cGoing through the technical sections of Chandelier, we could see the Italian and Dutch guys were struggling a bit as they\u2019re on hardtail frames. We decided not to let them recover and as we came out onto the smoother roads we attacked. Phil was strong and did most of the pacing. After losing time yesterday, it was good to pull some back today. We will keep trying to pull back more, but our priority is to help Matthys and Gert keep the leader jerseys,\u201d added Du Toit.<\/p>\n In the women\u2019s race, leaders Suss and Williamson once again looked composed as they conquered the stage in a time of 3:41:26, putting them 17th overall across the line. Prologue winners, Robyn de Groot and Jennie Stenerhag (Ascendis Health) finished less than three minutes later to retain their second place, but lost more time in the process. Marlene Lourens (RSA) and Desiree Loubser (RSA) of Fair Cape were third on the stage and hold third overall.<\/p>\n In the Veteran\u2019s race, overnight leaders Rob Sim and Doug Brown (Trek Robert Daniel) raced to a dominant victory, taking more than an eight-minute cushion into Stage 3 over Craig Gerber and Marius Nel (Cape Brewing Company), who were second on the stage.<\/p>\n The battle for the Masters\u2019 title intensified when Lieb Loots and Izak Visagie (Wilde Masters) secured a dominant win over their main rivals, Waleed Baker and Joao Mendes (PitstopSport24hrs). This saw them virtually half the latter\u2019s lead to less than seven minutes going into Day 4.<\/p>\n In the Mixed team race, Prologue winners and early leaders Daniele Troesch (FRA) and Max Friedrich (GER) of the ToMotion Racing Black Tusk team saw their hopes of a final podium finish fade when Friedrich was forced to run the final 30km due to a broken frame.<\/p>\n Category leaders Fienie and Kobus Barnard (Klein Karoo Mixed) grabbed a second successive stage win and increased their overall lead to 30 minutes over stage-runners up Danny Fowler and Monica Glover (The Bicycle Service Company).<\/p>\n The hotly contested Solo men\u2019s category saw a third different stage winner in three days when Craig Uria crossed the finish marginally ahead of fellow South African Richard Damant, who now holds the overall lead. Lara-Ann Everts-Van de Venter won her second consecutive stage to extend her lead in the Solo women\u2019s race.<\/p>\n Wednesday\u2019s 94km Stage 3, dubbed #KammanassieKanon, from Oudtshoorn to De Rust climbs a total of 1950m, but it\u2019s the mercilessly rugged terrain through the Kammanassie Reserve section that\u2019s likely to disrupt any rhythm the riders have begun to find. It favours the more skilled riders and will certainly be best tackled on a full-suspension bike.<\/p>\n<\/a>Riders in the lead pack watch one another closely during the latter part of Stage 2 of the Cape Pioneer Trek from George to Oudtshoorn, South Africa, on Tuesday. Photo credit: Zoon Cronje\/Nikon.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a>Erik Kleinhans (front) and his Asrin Cycling teammate, Chris Wolhuter, focus on maintaining their lead during Stage 2 of the Cape Pioneer Trek from George to Oudtshoorn, South Africa, on Tuesday. Photo credit: Zoon Cronje\/Nikon.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a>Esther Suss (left) and Catherine Willamson of Sasol Racing on their way to extending their overall during Stage 2 of the Cape Pioneer Trek from George to Oudtshoorn, South Africa, on Tuesday. Photo credit: Zoon Cronje\/Nikon.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a>Riders climb the Montagu Pass during Stage 2 of the Cape Pioneer Trek from George to Oudtshoorn, South Africa, on Tuesday. Photo credit: Zoon Cronje\/Nikon.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a>Doug Brown (left) and Rob Sim of Trek Robert Daniel enjoy a cold beer after extending their lead in the Veteran category on Stage 2 of the Cape Pioneer Trek from George to Oudtshoorn, South Africa, on Tuesday. Photo credit: Zoon Cronje\/Nikon.<\/span><\/p>\n