![\"ccs-62657-0-84150500-1414524448.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ccs-62657-0-84150500-1414524448.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nParticipants in this year\u2019s FedGroup Berg & Bush two-day race took on a \u201crace within a race\u201d during the Subaru Battle of Spioenkop in the Central Drakensberg on October 18. \/\/ Photo: Nik Muzik<\/span><\/p>\n A few hardy souls in the two-day event soldiered their way up the 1.44km climb as they took on the optional \u201crace within a race\u201d after the opening stage.<\/p>\n The daunting hilltop climb is one of the event\u2019s most iconic route features and riders are traditionally treated to a historical sundowner tour of the Anglo-Boer War battlefield by local raconteur Simon Blackburn once the day\u2019s racing is over.<\/p>\n According to race organiser Gary Green, the ascent provided the perfect opportunity to create some Tour de France-style excitement for spectators before the sundowner tour.<\/p>\n \u201cThis route comprises 500m of paved road with 14 speed bumps, then 500m of dirt and a further 500m of tar to finish. So it\u2019s interesting and novel because it also gave the roadies a chance to shine in a mountain bike race.\u201d<\/p>\n Mountain biker Tracey Want celebrates her victory in the Subaru Battle of Spioenkop during the FedGroup Berg & Bush in the Central Drakensberg. \/\/ Photo: Nik Muzik.<\/span><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The altitude took its toll as riders started at an elevation of 919m and finished at around 1 048m above sea level.<\/p>\n With the gradient measuring almost 20 per cent in places, the ascent tested even the most battle-hardened riders to the limits as they vied for their share of the R20 000 prize purse.<\/p>\n In the end, the victor\u2019s spoils went to Inter-Active Technologies\u2019 Peter-Lee Jefferies in a time of 4:58. His teammate Clinton Janneke finished just six seconds behind him to claim the runner-up spot, with Nicholas van der Walt third in 5:15.<\/p>\n \u201cPeter-Lee told me he had ridden professionally overseas and he had never seen a crowd response like that before,\u201d said Green.<\/p>\n In the women\u2019s challenge, the honours went to Tracey Want, who clocked in at 8:08. Lisa Bontekoning finished a distant second in 8:39, while world veteran mountain bike champion Brenda Potts rounded out the podium in 8:51.<\/p>\n Green said the inaugural mini-race had been an instant hit with the riders and spectators alike.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was the highlight of the day, extremely exciting and will definitely be on the calendar for next year, weather permitting.\u201d<\/p>\n Andrew Hill and Tyronne White of TIB-Thule won the three-day Descent, which is the main feature race for which the event is known.<\/p>\n The three-stage Great Trek, which was designated as the women\u2019s prize money event, saw VeloLife\u2019s Ashleigh Moffatt and Carla van Huyssteen scoop the overall win.<\/p>\n Visit www.bergandbush.co.za<\/a>, find the race on Facebook or follow @bergandbush<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Spioenkop was the site of a skirmish of a different sort as mountain bikers vied for victory in the inaugural Subaru Battle of Spioenkop during the FedGroup Berg & Bush stage race in the Central Drakensberg earlier this month. Participants in this year\u2019s FedGroup Berg & Bush two-day race took on a \u201crace within a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":50550,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[49,4648,517],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-20779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-berg-bush","tag-spioenkop","tag-stage-race"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20779","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=20779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20779\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20779"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=20779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/p>\n