Cannondale-Blend\u2019s Charles Keey (left) and Darren Lill claimed the opening stage of the three-day Nedbank sani2c at MacKenzie Club near Ixopo in KwaZulu-Natal on Thursday. Photo: Full Stop Communications<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nThey stayed together over the PG Bison floating bridge at the 30km mark and through both waterpoints, with Keey taking the lead into the final uphill drag to the finish.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were positioned fairly well. Charles hit out at the right time, just as the hill crested, and kept it going all the way to the line,\u201d said Lill.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was just following the right wheels and I could see by the time we got to this grass finish that we were going to take it.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the women\u2019s race, the stage victory went to Ischen Stopforth and Olympic road racer Robyn de Groot, riding in the colours of Biogen, in 3:07:45.<\/p>\n
They came home almost two minutes ahead of Stopforth\u2019s former bizhub partner Catherine Williamson \u2013 with whom she won last year \u2013 and Yolandi du Toit in 3:09:37. FedGroup-Itec\u2019s Bridgette Stewart and Jackie Moore finished a distant third in 3:36:55.<\/p>\n
De Groot, competing in her maiden Nedbank sani2c, said it was great to be riding with the seasoned Stopforth but that their lead was far from secure. \u201cA minute or two isn\u2019t much in mountain biking.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two-time Absa Cape Epic and Old Mutual joBerg2c champions Erik and Ariane Kleinhans of RE:CM once again showed world-class form by winning the mixed category in 2:57:38.<\/p>\n
They were followed by Educos duo Taygan Robson and Samantha Sanders in 3:09:38, with Sweden\u2019s Jennie Stenerhag and Nizaam Esa of Asrin Cycling third in 3:11:42.<\/p>\n
On Friday, the gruelling 99km second stage from Ixopo to Jolivet farm near Highflats features a spectacular descent into the Umkomaas River Valley and 2 288m of climbing.<\/p>\n
The race, which is presented by Nedbank Private Wealth, wraps up with a world-first floating bridge finish into the sea at Scottburgh\u2019s main beach on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Visit www.sani2c.co.za, find the race on Facebook or follow @sani2c_scoop.<\/p>\n
RESULTS<\/strong><\/p>\nStage 1<\/strong><\/p>\nMen: 1. Charles Keey & Darren Lill (Cannondale-Blend) 2:47:10; 2. Louis-Bresler Knipe & Gert Heyns (Contego-Giant) 2:47:11; 3. Waylon Woolcock & Lourens Luus (RE:CM) 2:47:11; 4. Max Knox & Nico Bell (EIA-Westvaal) 2:47:13; 5. Brandon Stewart & Neil MacDonald (FedGroup-Itec) 2:47:18<\/p>\n
Women: 1. Ischen Stopforth & Robyn de Groot (Biogen Ladies) 3:07:45; 2. Catherine Williamson & Yolandi du Toit (bizhub) 3:09:37; 3. Bridgette Stewart & Jackie Moore (FedGroup-Itec) 3:36:56; 4. Christi Pienaar & Nadine Kloppers (Angry Birds) 3:49:16; 5. Andrea von Holdt & Sanmari Woithe (Merrell Ladies) 3:51:09<\/p>\n
Mixed: 1. Ariane Kleinhans & Erik Kleinhans (RE:CM) 2:57:38; 2. Taygan Robson & Samantha Sanders (Educos) 3:09:38; 3. Nizaam Esa & Jennie Stenerhag (Asrin Cycling) 3:11:42; 4. Patrick Belton & Kendall Ryan (Jeep-Felt) 3:12:10; 5. John Ntuli & Jeannie Dreyer (RMB Change a Life) 3:12:46<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
After a run of bad luck this season, Charles Keey and Darren Lill finally got the break they needed to claim the opening stage of the three-day Nedbank sani2c mountain bike race near Ixopo in KwaZulu-Natal on Thursday. Cannondale-Blend\u2019s Charles Keey (second from left) and Darren Lill (second from right) held off all challengers to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":53400,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[4018,53],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-21832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-nedbank-sani2c","tag-sani2c"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21832","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=21832"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21832\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21832"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=21832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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