![\"ccs-41808-0-40600100-1399893753.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ccs-41808-0-40600100-1399893753.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nKargo Pro MTB Team star Rourke Croeser shook off the bridesmaid tag at the 2014 Sappi Karkloof Classic MTB Festival as he powered his way to his first victory at the event \/\/ Image credit: Anthony Grote\/Gameplan Media<\/span><\/p>\n The riders were greeted to some gloomy weather at the start but as soon as they left the valley they were bathed in sunshine as Croeser and Trek SA\u2019s Brendon Davids made an early break but following a technical glitch to Davids\u2019 bike Croeser took the outright lead and never looked back despite not feeling on top of his game.<\/p>\n “Funnily enough I didn’t have the greatest of legs today but I really, really wanted to win,\u201d a satisfied Croeser said. “Myself and Brendon (Davids) got away fairly early on and then Brendon got a puncture at the top of the major climb and I managed to get around him and get to the end.”<\/p>\n The conditions were in between for the riders with track conditions shifting between dry and wet but Croeser managed to negotiate the changing conditions well and was happy with the way he could produce a favourable result for himself and his team with a trip overseas on the horizon.<\/p>\n It was a powerful display of Mountain Bike Marathon riding by Kargo Pro MTB Team’s Rourke Croeser as he claimed his maiden victory at the Sappi Karkloof Classic MTB Festival \/\/ Image credit: Anthony Grote\/Gameplan Media<\/span><\/p>\n “There were a few sections that were bone dry and there were a few sections that were really muddy, it was a bit weird but I really enjoyed it.<\/p>\n “Our team needed a big result, I needed a big result and I was just happy to get the win. It gives me great confidence as I leave on the European leg of our World Cup tour and I am looking forward to the rest of the season,\u201d Croeser mentioned confidently.<\/p>\n It was Cannondale Blend\u2019s Darren Lill who claimed the second place on the podium in his first outing to the Sappi Karkloof Classic and after battling through some sections he managed to hold off the chasing bunch to claim the silver medal for the men\u2019s event.<\/p>\n “I seemed to be having a bad day technically, I don’t know what I was doing but I was just hacking badly in the single track and I think that is where I lost most of my time today.<\/p>\n “It is my first time doing the race and I went out there and had fun and I’ve got a better idea of what to expect next time,\u201d Lill mentioned.<\/p>\n Impressive Karkloof debutant Darren Lill of Cannondale Blend adapted to the conditions well to take the runner-up place behind Croeser during the men’s 60km marathon. \/\/ Image credit: Anthony Grote\/Gameplan Media<\/span><\/p>\n Having never raced on the track before Lill felt that he was at a slight disadvantage, but he did not let that come between him and his determination to get into the top three and he was happy to take home the runner-up medal.<\/p>\n “I was pretty confident that I could get a top three today, obviously you always come to races to win but it is not always possible and I think today local knowledge of these trails definitely helped and a lot of guys come from a cross country background so they are really quick and I think that is where I lost it a bit today,\u201d added Lill.<\/p>\n It was a ruthless sprint down the long finish straight for the third position and ultimately it was Team Jeep\u2019s Julian Jessop who outsprinted TIB Insurance’s Andrew Hill and Kargo Pro Team rider Travis Walker to take the final place on the podium before collapsing after the line with cramp.<\/p>\n “It was absolutely unbelievable!\u201d Jessop said ecstatically. \u201cThe last 10km I don’t know how I got through there was so much pain and then the end sprint! So as soon as I crossed the line the cramp set in and I couldn’t even stand!\u201d<\/p>\n It was a race to forget for the defending champion Brendon Davids as the Trek SA rider suffered multiple punctures throughout the race that left him playing catch-up for a lot of the race but he fought back gallantly to end in eighth place overall.<\/p>\n It was heart break for the defending champion, Trek SA’s Brendon Davids who came into a lot of trouble quite early in the race that left him playing catch up and repairing a number of flat tyres but rallied well to finish in eighth place overall \/\/ Image credit: Anthony Grote\/Gameplan Media<\/span><\/p>\n “I don’t know what I hit because both wheels went flat at the same time, bombed both wheels, put a plug in both tyres and about three or four km’s later it happened again and at that point I was third just off on Darren (Lill).<\/p>\n “I Punctured again going up ‘Pressure Cooker’ and then got it going again and just rode conservatively to the finish. I was sitting about 22nd at the bottom of ‘Pressure Cooker’ so I dug really deep on the climb but I had to play it quite safe on the descents.<\/p>\n “It’s a bit of a bummer but it is a good indicator of my form going into the World Cup season. It has been a disappointing couple of weeks with the World Cup, Lesotho and now this but I am happy with my form and I’m feeling good and with Sani (sani2c) next weekend hopefully we can go for the win there,” Davids added optimistically.<\/p>\n The women\u2019s race was also fairly one-sided with Time Freight VELOlife rider Candice Neethling\u2019s single track skills proving to be the difference as she opened up a fairly substantial gap over defending champion USN\/Hi-TEC\u2019s Jeannie Dreyer.<\/p>\n “I am really stoked, it was one of the best routes I have done! It was quite a lot harder than I thought with all the climbing and I was suffering on the last one called ‘The Pressure Cooker’ but the single track in between that made it so enjoyable,\u201d Neethling said happily.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n