Day seven proved to be the lucky number for Louis-Bresler Knipe and Kevin van Hoovels when they took their second stage win in the Old Mutual joBerg2c mountain bike race in KwaZulu-Natal on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Belgium\u2019s Kevin van Hoovels (left) and his Contego team-mate Louis-Bresler Knipe (second from left) celebrate as they sprint to a second stage win on day seven of the Old Mutual joBerg2c mountain bike race on Thursday. Photo: Full Stop Communications<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The Contego riders, who are both cross-country specialists, came to the fore on a fast and technical 78km stage from Hazeldene farm near Underberg to MacKenzie Club in the vicinity of Ixopo.<\/p>\n They outsprinted race leaders Brandon Stewart and Neil MacDonald of FedGroup-Itec to take a four-second victory in 2:59:15, with RE:CM\u2019s Waylon Woolcock and Lourens Luus a further second off the pace.<\/p>\n The overall podium remains unchanged, with Stewart and MacDonald (27:01:30) still three-and-a-half minutes ahead of second-placed Woolcock and Luus (27:04:58), with Bridge riders Nico Pfitzenmaier and Timo Cooper in third (27:29:06)<\/p>\n Their stage win sees Contego move up five places to 13th<\/sup> in the general classification (29:16:43).<\/p>\n Belgian Van Hoovels, who had been battling illness since their win on day four, recovered well to drive the racing upfront from the start on an undulating stretch of district road.<\/p>\n \u201cI kept the pace high because I don\u2019t like the fast-slow-fast riding; it hurts my legs,\u201d said Van Hoovels. \u201cI\u2019m not 100% yet but good enough for the win today.\u201d<\/p>\n Knipe said his team-mate, who finished in the top 20 at the Olympic Games last year, had made it hard for everyone including himself.<\/p>\n \u201cKevin was definitely the strongest rider again today. He\u2019d be off the back fiddling with something, then he\u2019d come from the back, pass the bunch, go sit up front and still pace.\u201d<\/p>\n Coming out of the Oak Dual Track section 12km into the stage, the three lead teams hit the first big ascent of the day.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a long drag of a climb and the pace was extremely high \u2013 it was maximum effort,\u201d said Knipe.<\/p>\n \u201cKevin was just sitting up front and making the pace hard. Lourens was having a hard time and so was Brandon.<\/p>\n \u201cThey both dropped off a bit on that climb and then I knew we had a chance at this because we\u2019d had an easier day the day before.\u201d<\/p>\n The three teams gritted their teeth and rode together, with the Contego duo leading the way across the PG Bison floating bridge across the Mossbank Dam at the 30km mark.<\/p>\n Despite fatigue setting in, the leaders kept a flat-out pace and stayed together all the way, resulting in a three-team sprint on the short uphill climb to the finish.<\/p>\n Knipe, who finished third overall with David Morison last year, said he was looking forward to the descent into the Umkomaas River Valley on day eight.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are also a few long climbs, so it\u2019ll be interesting to see what happens. Tomorrow you can either make a lot of time or lose it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t really have anything to lose now. We\u2019re out of the GC but we have the stage wins in our sights.\u201d<\/p>\n Erik and Ariane Kleinhans of RE:CM put in another commanding performance to take their seventh straight stage win in the mixed category in 3:11:26 (28:44:29).<\/p>\n Fischer-BMC\u2019s Swiss pairing of Jane N\u00fcessli and Yves Corminboeuf followed a distant second on the day in 3:17:14, with Antonia Wipfli and Patrick Jauch of Team Gisler third in 3:19:58.<\/p>\n The Kleinhans duo now hold a more than 22-minute lead over runners-up Catherine Williamson and Jarryd Haley of bizhub-Rocky Mountain (29:06:51), while Wipfli and Jauch lie third on aggregate (29:31:21).<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very, very tight racing. The other teams are very strong, which is great because it pushes you to another level,\u201d said Ariane.<\/p>\n \u201cAt Epic, we could take it easier on the downhills and open up the gaps on the climbs but here the competition\u2019s much more intense.\u201d<\/p>\n The two-time champions now lie seventh overall in the general classification.<\/p>\n Women\u2019s category leaders Ischen Stopforth and Yolande de Villiers claimed their third stage win in 3:25:33.<\/p>\n This cements an almost 15-and-a-half minute advantage over second-placed Cherise Stander and Lise Olivier of the Burry Stander Foundation, who also finished second on the stage in 3:32:37 (30:49:55).<\/p>\n USN-bizhub\u2019s Yolandi du Toit and Nicci Grobler round out the podium in 3:41:41 (31:09:39).<\/p>\n Visit www.joberg2c.co.za or follow the race on Facebook or @joberg2c_journo.<\/p>\n RESULTS<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Stage 6<\/strong><\/p>\n Men: 1. Louis-Bresler Knipe & Kevin van Hoovels (Contego) 2:59:15; 2. Brandon Stewart & Neil MacDonald (FedGroup-Itec) 2:59:19; 3.Waylon Woolcock & Lourens Luus (RE:CM) 2:59:20<\/p>\n Women: 1. Ischen Stopforth & Yolandie De Villiers (joBerg2c) 3:25:33; 2.Cherise Stander & Lise Olivier (Burry Stander Foundation) 3:32:37; 3.Yolandi Du Toit & Nicci Grobler (USN-bizhub) 3:41:41<\/p>\n Mixed: 1. Ariane Kleinhans & Erik Kleinhans (RE:CM) 3:11:26; 2. Jane N\u00fcessli & Yves Corminboeuf (Fischer-BMC) 3:17:14; 3. Jauch Patrick & Wipfli Antonia (Gisler) 3:19:58<\/p>\n Overall<\/strong><\/p>\n Men: 1. Brandon Stewart & Neil MacDonald (FedGroup-Itec) 27:01:30; 2. Waylon Woolcock & Lourens Luus (RE:CM) 27:04:58; 3. Nico Pfitzenmaier & Timo Cooper (Bridge) 27:29:06<\/p>\n Women: 1. Ischen Stopforth & Yolande de Villiers (joBerg2c Ladies) 27:08:58; 2. Cherise Stander & Lise Olivier (Burry Stander Foundation) 27:17:18; 3. Yolandi du Toit & Nicci Grobler (USN-bizhub) 27:27:58<\/p>\n Mixed: 1. Ariane Kleinhans & Erik Kleinhans (RE:CM) 28:44:29; 2. Catherine Williamson & Jarryd Haley (bizhub-Rocky Mountain) 29:06:51; 3. Jane N\u00fcessli & Yves Corminboeuf (Fischer-BMC) 26:14:07<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Day seven proved to be the lucky number for Louis-Bresler Knipe and Kevin van Hoovels when they took their second stage win in the Old Mutual joBerg2c mountain bike race in KwaZulu-Natal on Thursday. Belgium\u2019s Kevin van Hoovels (left) and his Contego team-mate Louis-Bresler Knipe (second from left) celebrate as they sprint to a second […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-21860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-events"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21860","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=21860"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21860\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21860"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=21860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}