![\"ccs-62657-0-80130600-1429521325.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ccs-62657-0-80130600-1429521325.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nMountain bikers Johann Rabie (left) and Gawie Combrinck will be gunning for their second consecutive win in the nine-day Old Mutual joBerg2c stage race, which starts in Heidelberg south of Johannesburg on April 24. \/\/ Photo: Kelvin Trautman.<\/span><\/p>\n The EAI Cycling pair appear to be on dangerous form after finishing second in the African jersey competition and sixth overall at last month\u2019s Cape Epic.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were very happy with our performance there and achieved the goals we set for ourselves,\u201d said Rabie of his and Combrinck\u2019s result.<\/p>\n The Epic took its physical toll however, as he was forced to rest and recover from a bout of flu after the event.<\/p>\n \u201cI took a few days off but I\u2019m back to training hard for joBerg2c now.\u201d<\/p>\n A former roadie, Rabie is widely regarded as one of South Africa\u2019s most consistent tour riders, with victories in the Tour de Free State and Le Coq Sportif Tour and podiums in the Giro del Capo, Tour of South Africa and Tour du Maroc.<\/p>\n \u201cI also had a few SA medals in my career on the road but now I am enjoying the mountain biking much more.\u201d<\/p>\n The 28-year-old said his tour riding skills had translated well into his newfound off-road racing career, which saw him take the joBerg2c title in his first outing at the event and then go on to podium in the sani2c and Cape Pioneer Trek.<\/p>\n \u201cI think you get a lot of power from the road and tactics are also a big factor that you learn there.\u201d<\/p>\n According to Rabie, the first three stages through the Free State certainly favoured road riders with long days in the saddle over relatively flat terrain.<\/p>\n \u201cBut it\u2019s in the latter stages through the mountains of KwaZulu-Natal where things really start to count.\u201d<\/p>\n Gawie Combrinck (left) and Johann Rabie will set out to defend their title at the nine-day Old Mutual joBerg2c mountain bike race, which starts in Heidelberg south of Johannesburg on April 24. \/\/ Photo: Full Stop Communications.<\/span><\/p>\n Last year, he and Combrinck took three stage wins en route to overall victory but would not be setting store by those daily benchmarks, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cOur aim is the overall win. We\u2019re not too concerned about the stages \u2013 if they come it\u2019s a bonus.\u201d<\/p>\n The 2014 edition was characterised by a to-and-fro battle with Waylon Woolcock and Darren Lill who took four stage wins and the overall lead into the final stage before serious mechanical issues saw the title slip from their grasp.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s such a long race that you need some luck too,\u201d said Rabie.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd if it\u2019s not in your favour, you can lose tons of time even if you are the strongest.\u201d<\/p>\n He said the race would only be won when the teams crossed the finish line on the last day at the South Coast resort town of Scottburgh.<\/p>\n For more information, visit www.joberg2c.co.za<\/a>, follow @joberg2c_journo<\/a> or find the race on Facebook.<\/p>\n OLD MUTUAL JOBERG2C STAGES:<\/strong><\/p>\n Day 1 \u2013 Karan Beef near Heidelberg to Frankfort School<\/p>\n Day 2 \u2013 Frankfort School to Reitz Showgrounds<\/p>\n Day 3 \u2013 Reitz Showgrounds to Sterkfontein Dam<\/p>\n Day 4 \u2013 Sterkfontein Dam to Winterton<\/p>\n Day 5 \u2013 Winterton to Clifton Prep on Nottingham Road<\/p>\n Day 6 \u2013 Clifton Prep to Glencairn Farm near Underberg<\/p>\n Day 7 \u2013 Glencairn Farm to MacKenzie Club near Ixopo<\/p>\n Day 8 \u2013 MacKenzie Club to Jolivet Farm near Highflats<\/p>\n Day 9 \u2013 Jolivet Farm to Scottburgh<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Defending champions Johann Rabie and Gawie Combrinck will be gunning for a second Old Mutual joBerg2c title when the nine-day mountain bike race fires its opening shot near Heidelberg on the outskirts of Johannesburg on April 24. Rabie and Combrinck will headline a field of 800 riders for the 950km stage race, which crosses four […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":48596,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[773,286,1748,1305],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-20145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-gawie-combrinck","tag-joberg2c","tag-johann-rabie","tag-old-mutual-joberg2c"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20145"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20145\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20145"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=20145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/p>\n