{"id":21788,"date":"2013-06-08T15:30:00","date_gmt":"2013-06-08T14:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/2013\/06\/08\/evans-and-stewart-draw-even-on-a-rainy-stage-two-at-recm-knysna-200-r720\/"},"modified":"2023-02-08T12:30:08","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T12:30:08","slug":"evans-and-stewart-draw-even-on-a-rainy-stage-two-at-recm-knysna-200-r720","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/evans-and-stewart-draw-even-on-a-rainy-stage-two-at-recm-knysna-200-r720\/","title":{"rendered":"Evans and Stewart draw even on a rainy stage two at RE:CM Knysna 200"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kevin Evans and Brandon Stewart effectively drew even as their titanic two-team tussle with Waylon Woolcock and Lourens Luus continued on the rain-soaked second stage of the RE:CM Knysna 200 on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\"Day-2-leading-men.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Kevin Evans of FedGroup-Itec drives the pace during the second stage of the RE:CM Knysna 200 on Saturday. Photo: Coetzee Gouws\/Full Stop Communications<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The FedGroup-Itec riders held off overnight leaders RE:CM in a tense and tactical sprint to the finish at Thesen Harbour Town to win the 68km stage by a single second in 2:31:04.<\/p>\n

Little more than half a second now separates Evans and Stewart from Woolcock and Luus, who still lead the overall standings in 5:30:23.<\/p>\n

Bridge riders Nico Pfitzenmaier and Timo Cooper crossed the line third in 2:35:13 (5:42:54) to retain the same position in the general classification.<\/p>\n

With Stewart showing signs of struggling soon after the start at Rheenendal, Pfitzenmaier and Cooper put in a couple of big early efforts in near-perfect mountain biking conditions.<\/p>\n

Woolcock and Luus were able to reel them back each time, with a recovering Stewart and Evans rejoining the leaders among the hills of the Garden Route National Park.<\/p>\n

The three teams reached the first waterpoint, in the vicinity of Millwood around 18km into the stage, as the weather took a turn for the worse and the rain set in.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said to Kev that my legs were feeling better,\u201d said Stewart. \u201cSo he said, \u2018Buckle in and climb!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

They put in several surges on the ascents on the Goudveld forest loop and continued to work hard at the front of the group.<\/p>\n

The pace eventually proved too much for the Bridge duo, who were dropped on the technical single track section around the 30km mark.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we saw the gap, we took it and rode away with the RE:CM boys,\u201d said Stewart.<\/p>\n

At the second waterpoint in the Homtini section of the park, approximately 10km later, Pfitzenmaier and Cooper were one minute off the back.<\/p>\n

RE:CM and FedGroup-Itec turned up the gas on the Rheenendal road and by the time they hit the new single track near Phantom Pass they had opened a more than two-minute gap on the chasing pair.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew the finish was going to be a bit dodgy and unsafe if you tried to sprint with four guys,\u201d said Evans.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I jumped before we went through the Knysna waterfront and Waylon came with me.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe left Brandon and Lourens to sprint it out and as Brandon\u2019s got more of a kick than me, I left it to him to deal with the laaitie<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Battling shoulder to shoulder, Stewart just edged out the 21-year-old national marathon series champion to secure the stage win.<\/p>\n

\"Day-2-leading-men-2.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Kevin Evans and Brandon Stewart of FedGroup-Itec, left, lead breakaway companions Waylon Woolcock and Lourens Luus of RE:CM during the closing stages of the second day of the RE:CM Knysna 200 on Saturday. Photo: Coetzee Gouws\/Full Stop Communications<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Evans, who is based in the neighbouring town of Plettenberg Bay, said he was looking forward to the fast-paced 57km final stage through the Harkerville forest, which is literally in his own backyard.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know the trails well, so that has to be an advantage. But it seems that it might come down to a sprint again tomorrow and if you lose by one second, well, so be it.\u201d<\/p>\n

With more rain predicted for Sunday, Woolcock said the weather would certainly play a role.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt should make the racing interesting, as Harkerville is wet at the best of times. With Kevin knowing the trails back to front, they\u2019ll definitely have the advantage.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re quite evenly matched, so we\u2019re hoping another team like Bridge trying to take the stage win will be able to split things up for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the women\u2019s race, Howard & Chamberlain\u2019s Heletje van Staden and Nicci Grobler took the stage win in 3:20:39 (7:23:50) to extend their overall lead.<\/p>\n

Mixed category leaders Philip and Annari Jordaan of Mixed Emotions won the day in 3:35:38 (7:39:45) to consolidate their top spot in the overall rankings.<\/p>\n

For updates, go to @gardenroutelive, Facebook or www.recmknysna200.co.za.<\/p>\n

RESULTS<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Stage 2<\/strong><\/p>\n

Men: 1. Kevin Evans & Brandon Stewart (FedGroup-Itec) 2:31:04; 2. Waylon Woolcock & Lourens Luus (RE:CM) 2:31:05; 3. Timo Cooper & Nico Pfitzenmaier (Bridge) 2:35:13; 4. Matthew Brittain & Rob Dormehl (RE:CM Rowers) 2:39:48; 5. Martin Epstein & Andrew Davies (Epstein Davies) 2:51:52<\/p>\n

Women: 1. Heletje van Staden & Nicci Grobler (Howard-Chamberlain) 3:20:39; 2. Theresa Horn & Miriam Stronkhorst (First Ascent) 3:41:43; 3. Judith Scheepers & Lindsey Chicken (Bikeplus) 3:48:10; 4. Desiree Strydom & Arlien Mattheus (Dynamite Chicks) 3:59:53; 5. Franci Joubert & Marianne du Plessis (Twosome) 4:40:56<\/p>\n

Mixed: 1. Philip Jordaan & Annari Jordaan (Mixed Emotions) 3:35:38; 2. John Tennent & Diana Carolin (Tennent\u2019s Laager) 3:40:10; 3. JJ le Roux & Karen le Roux (Beauty and the Best) 3:48:12; 4. Ico Schutte & Jessi Stensland (Ultimate Cycling) 3:54:20; 5. Pieter Oelofse & Yzette Oelofse (Boys and Bikes) 3:55:27<\/p>\n

Overall<\/strong><\/p>\n

Men: 1. Waylon Woolcock & Lourens Luus (RE:CM) 5:30:23; 2. Kevin Evans & Brandon Stewart (FedGroup-Itec) 5:30:24; 3. Timo Cooper & Nico Pfitzenmaier (Bridge) 5:42:54; 4. Martin Epstein & Andrew Davies (Epstein Davies) 6:15:56; 5. Matthew Brittain & Rob Dormehl (RE:CM Rowers) 6:30:41<\/p>\n

Women: 1. Heletje van Staden & Nicci Grobler (Howard-Chamberlain) 7:23:50; 2. Theresa Horn & Miriam Stronkhorst (First Ascent) 8:04:57; 3. Judith Scheepers & Lindsey Chicken (Bikeplus) 8:14:06; 4. Desiree Strydom & Arlien Mattheus (Dynamite Chicks) 8:33:17; 5. Penni Hirst & Terry Todd (Belvidere Girls) 9:09:52<\/p>\n

Mixed: 1. Philip Jordaan & Annari Jordaan (Mixed Emotions) 7:39:45; 2. John Tennent & Diana Carolin (Tennent\u2019s Laager) 7:52:26; 3. Pieter Oelofse & Yzette Oelofse (Boys and Bikes) 8:13:08; 4. Ico Schutte & Jessi Stensland (Ultimate Cycling) 8:27:41; 5. Johan Jacobs & Colleen Jacobs (Lucky Valley) 8:31:01<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kevin Evans and Brandon Stewart effectively drew even as their titanic two-team tussle with Waylon Woolcock and Lourens Luus continued on the rain-soaked second stage of the RE:CM Knysna 200 on Saturday. Kevin Evans of FedGroup-Itec drives the pace during the second stage of the RE:CM Knysna 200 on Saturday. Photo: Coetzee Gouws\/Full Stop Communications […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":53357,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[2818,4972,3189,2619],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-21788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-brandon-stewart","tag-fedgroup-itec","tag-kevin-evans","tag-recm-knysna-200"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21788","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\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21788\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21788"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=21788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}