{"id":22165,"date":"2012-10-22T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-10-21T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/evans-and-george-retain-bridge-cape-pioneer-trek-title-in-style-r329\/"},"modified":"2023-02-08T12:35:52","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T12:35:52","slug":"evans-and-george-retain-bridge-cape-pioneer-trek-title-in-style-r329","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/evans-and-george-retain-bridge-cape-pioneer-trek-title-in-style-r329\/","title":{"rendered":"Evans and George retain Bridge Cape Pioneer Trek title in style"},"content":{"rendered":"

Defending champions, Kevin Evans and David George (Nedbank 360Life), battled cold, wet and muddy conditions to claim their fourth stage win and the overall title at the 2012 Bridge Cape Pioneer Trek mountain bike race, which ended on Saturday in Oudtshoorn, in South Africa\u2019s Western Cape province.<\/p>\n

Nico Bell and Gawie Combrinck (Westvaal Columbia) and Melt Swanepoel and Matthys Beukes (Cango MTB.com) finished the final stage, an 84-kilometre haul from George to Oudtshoorn in second and fifth places respectively, earning them second and third spots in the final General Classification, following a week of exciting racing over challenging, but scenic terrain that covered a total distance of 534km with 11 516 metres of climbing.<\/p>\n

Steady rain made conditions difficult from the outset with the temperature at the summit of the Montagu Pass dropping to 4 degrees Celsius. But George and Evans were determined to complete their tour with a stage win and set a fast pace from the start. Evans soon began to struggle though, leaving George to nurse him through a bad patch before he recovered somewhat for the final 15km. The pair clocked a winning time of 03 hours 07 minutes 06 seconds, with Combrinck and Bell following them home just less than two minutes later.<\/p>\n

\u201cI began to feel weak. I think the fatigue from the hectic last two weeks caught up with me. Dave had to do all the work and was on the receiving end of some harsh words from me,\u201d grinned Evans. \u201cHe was great though. He even offered to carry my bottle to save me some watts! After he\u2019d worked for 65km, with Nico and Gawie not that far behind, I got angry and decided I had to help. We managed to get here first, but it wasn\u2019t easy. Great to end with a stage win though.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite his physical condition and the difficult weather conditions throughout the last couple of stages, Evans was quick to pay compliments.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Cape Pioneer Trek is really so much more enjoyable this year. It\u2019s still challenging for everyone, but more manageable for all the participants. The trails were fun too \u2013 technical at times but rewarding. Just incredible riding, organisation, scenery and hospitality,\u201d added Evans.<\/p>\n

In the women\u2019s race, overnight leaders Yolande Speedy and Yolande de Villiers (Klein Karoo International Ostrich Chicks) were never threatened by defending champions Ischen Stopforth and Catherine Williamson (Bridge bizhub Ladies) as they charged to victory and extended their overall winning margin from 57 seconds to 15 minutes. Stopforth had become ill on Stage 5 and soldiered through the remaining stage bravely. But in the end she and Williamson had to settle for the runners-up spot after the most exciting contest in the women\u2019s category in the race\u2019s four-year history.<\/p>\n

Dutch teammates Micha de Vries and Willem van Heerdt (Cube Nutswerk 1) raced to the stage win the Veteran men\u2019s category, with overall leaders Nico Pfitzenmaier and Robert Sim (Robert Daniel Momsen) content to finish a safe second and secure the overall victory. It was some compensation following their forced exit from the 2012 ABSA Cape Epic, where they were clear leaders before Pfitzenmaier crashed out with an injured knee.<\/p>\n

The final stage saw a big turnaround in the Mixed category as South African Craig Gerber and his Swedish teammate, Jennie Stenerhag, claimed their first stage win ahead of category leaders, Kathrin Stirnemann and Sandro Soncin (BH \u2013 Halbike \u2013 Tigers) of Switzerland. The Swiss pair claimed the overall victory though with Germans Max Fridrich and Nadine Rieder (Ergon 24H Racing Team) finishing second with Gerber and Stenerhag an overall third.<\/p>\n

The Swiss team of Barti Bucher and Ernst Engeli (Bix-Sherpa Tensing Pedalerie) completed their absolute dominance of the Master\u2019s category by capturing their seventh consecutive stage win and finishing the tour in an impressive ninth place overall.<\/p>\n

In the Solo men\u2019s race, overnight leader, Timo Cooper, finished third behind Austrian Heinz Zoerweb and Petrus Malherbe respectively, but won the overall title fairly comfortably in the end. The Solo women\u2019s race saw a spirited fight back from Desiree Loubser who won the stage by a big enough margin to reclaim the overall lead over race-long rival, Diana Carolin.<\/p>\n

The 2012 event saw the start of a five-year sponsorship by Bridge, a financial solutions company. The corporate backing from Bridge, along with a R100 000 (US $12 000) contribution from headline sponsor, Wilde Juices, helped enable the organisers to increase the prizemoney across all categories, with a total prize purse of R300 000 (US $37000).<\/p>\n

Follow @BridgeCPT on twitter for reaction and post-event updates. On Facebook, visit Bridge Cape Pioneer Trek 2012. See a full gallery of event images and more insight here: http:\/\/blog.capepioneer.co.za\/<\/a> For additional event information, visit www.capepioneer.co.za<\/a><\/p>\n

Bridge Cape Pioneer Trek 2012<\/strong><\/p>\n

Stage 6 \u2013 George \u2013 Oudtshoorn<\/strong><\/p>\n

84km; 1 584 metres ascent<\/strong><\/p>\n

Leading results<\/strong><\/p>\n

Open Men:<\/strong><\/p>\n

1 Kevin Evans \u2013 RSA \/ David George \u2013 RSA (Nedbank 360Life) 03:07:06<\/p>\n

2 Nico Bell \u2013 RSA \/ Gawie Combrinck \u2013 RSA (Westvaal Columbia) 03:08:53<\/p>\n

3 Chris Wolhuter \u2013 RSA \/ Oliver Munnik \u2013 RSA (Asrin Cycling) 03:19:29<\/p>\n

4 Wynand Mulder \u2013 RSA \/ Kobus Barnard \u2013 RSA (Klein Karoo Express) 03:27:21<\/p>\n

5 Matthys Beukes \u2013 RSA \/ Melt Swanepoel \u2013 RSA (Cango MTB.com) 03:27:42<\/p>\n

Women:<\/p>\n

1 Yolande de Villiers \u2013 RSA \/ Yolande Speedy \u2013 RSA (Klein Karoo International Ostrich Chicks) 03:36:21<\/p>\n

2 Ischen Stopforth \u2013 RSA \/ Catherine Williamson \u2013 GBR (Bridge bizhub Ladies) 03:50:47<\/p>\n

3 Sarah van Heerden \u2013 RSA \/ Jackie Church \u2013 RSA (Wilde 2) 04:14:08<\/p>\n

Mixed:<\/strong><\/p>\n

1 Craig Gerber \u2013 RSA \/ Jennie Stenerhag \u2013 SWE (Newlinesport) 03:35:54<\/p>\n

2 Kathrin Stirnemann \u2013 SUI \/ Sandro Soncin \u2013 SUI (BH \u2013 Halbike \u2013 Tigers) 03:37:14<\/p>\n

3 Max Fridrich \u2013 GER \/ Nadine Rieder \u2013 GER (Ergon 24H Racing Team) 03:49:36<\/p>\n

Veteran:<\/strong><\/p>\n

1 Micha de Vries \u2013 NED \/Willem van Heerdt \u2013 NED (Cube Nutswerk 1) 03:23:15<\/p>\n

2 Robert Sim \u2013 RSA \/ Nico Pfitzenmaier \u2013 GER (Robert Daniel Momsen) 03:23:22<\/p>\n

3 Rex Benson \u2013 RSA \/ Mark Langman \u2013 RSA (Bridge USN) 04:03:25 <\/p>\n

Masters:<\/strong><\/p>\n

1 Barti Bucher \u2013 SUI \/ Ernst Engeli \u2013 SUI (Bix-Sherpa Tensing Pedalerie) 03:27:27<\/p>\n

2 Tony Conlon \u2013 RSA \/ Peter Stopforth \u2013 RSA (Marsilio Projects Masters) 03:50:51<\/p>\n

3 Neville Ackermann \u2013 RSA \/ Charles Nienaber \u2013 RSA (Bridge Masters) 03:52:26<\/p>\n

Solo Men:<\/strong><\/p>\n

1 Heinz Zoerweb \u2013 AUT 03:19:29<\/p>\n

2 Petrus Malherbe \u2013 RSA 03:23:23<\/p>\n

3 Timo Cooper \u2013 RSA 03:23:30<\/p>\n

Solo Women:<\/strong><\/p>\n

1 Desiree Loubser \u2013 RSA 04:12:50<\/p>\n

2 Dianna Ineman \u2013 SUI 04:25:33<\/p>\n

3 Diana Carolin \u2013 RSA 04:33:24<\/p>\n

General Classification after Stage 5<\/strong><\/p>\n

Open Men:<\/strong><\/p>\n

1 Kevin Evans \u2013 RSA \/ David George \u2013 RSA (Nedbank 360Life) 20:56:56<\/p>\n

2 Nico Bell \u2013 RSA \/ Gawie Combrinck \u2013 RSA (Westvaal Columbia) 21:21:41<\/p>\n

3 Matthys Beukes \u2013 RSA \/ Melt Swanepoel \u2013 RSA (Cango MTB.com) 21:51:00<\/p>\n

4 Chris Wolhuter \u2013 RSA \/ Oliver Munnik \u2013 RSA (Asrin Cycling) 22:43:18<\/p>\n

5 Mattijs Eversdijk \u2013 NED \/ Liwald Doornbos \u2013 NED (Cube Nutswerk 2) 23:20:29<\/p>\n

Women:<\/strong><\/p>\n

1 Yolande de Villiers \u2013 RSA \/ Yolande Speedy \u2013 RSA (Klein Karoo International Ostrich Chicks) 25:22:30<\/p>\n

2 Ischen Stopforth \u2013 RSA \/ Catherine Williamson \u2013 GBR (Bridge bizhub Ladies) 25:37:52<\/p>\n

3 Sarah van Heerden \u2013 RSA \/ Jackie Church \u2013 RSA (Wilde 2) 28:09:38<\/p>\n

Mixed:<\/strong><\/p>\n

1 Kathrin Stirnemann \u2013 SUI \/ Sandro Soncin \u2013 SUI (BH \u2013 Halbike \u2013 Tigers) 24:10:26<\/p>\n

2 Max Fridrich \u2013 GER \/ Nadine Rieder \u2013 GER (Ergon 24H Racing Team) 24:36:40<\/p>\n

3 Craig Gerber \u2013 RSA \/ Jennie Stenerhag \u2013 SWE (Newlinesport 25:02:19<\/p>\n

Veteran:<\/strong><\/p>\n

1 Robert Sim \u2013 RSA \/ Nico Pfitzenmaier \u2013 GER (Robert Daniel Momsen) 23:01:13 <\/p>\n

2 Micha de Vries – NED \/Willem van Heerdt \u2013 NED (Cube Nutswerk 1) 23:30:40<\/p>\n

3 Rex Benson \u2013 RSA \/ Mark Langman \u2013 RSA (Bridge USN) 26:34:18<\/p>\n

Masters:<\/strong><\/p>\n

1 Barti Bucher \u2013 SUI \/ Ernst Engeli \u2013 SUI (Bix-Sherpa Tensing Pedalerie) 20:09:17<\/p>\n

2 Neville Ackermann \u2013 RSA \/ Charles Nienaber \u2013 RSA (Bridge Masters) 21:56:19<\/p>\n

3 Tony Conlon \u2013 RSA \/ Peter Stopforth \u2013 RSA (Marsilio Projects Masters) 23:09:53<\/p>\n

Solo Men:<\/strong><\/p>\n

1 Timo Cooper \u2013 RSA 22:54:22<\/p>\n

2 Heinz Zoerweb \u2013 AUT 22:42:11<\/p>\n

3 Petrus Malherbe \u2013 RSA 23:09:30<\/p>\n

Solo Women:<\/strong><\/p>\n

1 Desiree Loubser \u2013 RSA 29:06:47<\/p>\n

2 Diana Carolin \u2013 RSA 29:19:10<\/p>\n

3 Dianna Ineman \u2013 SUI 30:22:01<\/p>\n

For full results, visit www.capepioneer.co.za<\/a><\/p>\n

\"pioneer_f1.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

David George (front) and Kevin Evans (Nedbank 360Life) settle into an early lead on their way to winning Stage 6 of the 2012 Bridge Cape Pioneer Trek international mountain bike stage race on Saturday.<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Photo credit: Karin Schermbrucker\/Slingshot Media <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"pioneer_f2.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Nico Bell (front) and Gawie Combrinck (Westvaal Columbia) on their way to second place on the final stage and second on the overall standings at the 2012 Bridge Cape Pioneer Trek international mountain bike stage race.<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Photo credit: Karin Schermbrucker\/Slingshot Media <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"pioneer_f3.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Catherine Williamson (front) and Ischen Stopforth (Bridge bizhub Ladies) on their way to second place on the final stage and second overall in the women’s category at the 2012 Bridge Cape Pioneer Trek international mountain bike stage race.<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Photo credit: Karin Schermbrucker\/Slingshot Media <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"pioneer_f4.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

David George (left) and Kevin Evans (Nedbank 360Life) roll over the rain-soaked finish line to win the final stage and the overall title at the 2012 Bridge Cape Pioneer Trek international mountain bike stage race.<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Photo credit: Karin Schermbrucker\/Slingshot Media <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"pioneer_f5.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Yolande Speedy (left) and Yolande de Villiers (Klein Karoo International Ostrich Chicks) smile with relief as they win the final stage and the overall women’s title at the 2012 Bridge Cape Pioneer Trek international mountain bike stage race.<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Photo credit: Karin Schermbrucker\/Slingshot Media <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"pioneer_f6.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A rider ascends Montagu Pass in cold, wet conditions on Stage 6 of the Bridge Cape Pioneer Trek international mountain bike stage race.<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Photo credit: Karin Schermbrucker\/Slingshot Media <\/strong><\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"pioneer_f7.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Neville Cragg makes his way across a bridge during Stage 6 of the 2012 Bridge Cape Pioneer Trek international mountain bike stage race.<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Photo credit: Karin Schermbrucker\/Slingshot Media <\/strong><\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"pioneer_f8.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Solo men’s category rider, Neil Gerryts, negotiates a muddy forest singletrack trail during Stage 6 of the 2012 Bridge Cape Pioneer Trek international mountain bike stage race.<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Photo credit: Karin Schermbrucker\/Slingshot Media <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Defending champions, Kevin Evans and David George (Nedbank 360Life), battled cold, wet and muddy conditions to claim their fourth stage win and the overall title at the 2012 Bridge Cape Pioneer Trek mountain bike race, which ended on Saturday in Oudtshoorn, in South Africa\u2019s Western Cape province. Nico Bell and Gawie Combrinck (Westvaal Columbia) and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":53502,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-22165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22165","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=22165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22165\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22165"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=22165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}