{"id":61749,"date":"2023-03-04T19:16:50","date_gmt":"2023-03-04T17:16:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/?p=61749"},"modified":"2023-03-20T08:50:19","modified_gmt":"2023-03-20T06:50:19","slug":"beers-and-lill-win-2023-south-african-xcm-championships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/beers-and-lill-win-2023-south-african-xcm-championships\/","title":{"rendered":"Beers and Lill Win 2023 South African XCM Championships"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Matt Beers and Candice Lill proved themselves to be a class apart at the Bike Fest Paarl on Saturday, 4 March. The Toyota Specialized man won his second South African Marathon title, on the 75 kilometre long course; which started and finished at Rhebokskloof Wine Estate outside Paarl. While Lill, of Seattle Coffee Co King Price Rola, dominated the women\u2019s race on her way to a maiden marathon distance national crown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Candice Lill (left) won her maiden SA XCM title while Matt Beers (right) added a second to the first he won in Paarl in 2021 at the Bike Fest Paarl; on Saturday, 4 March. Photo by Seamus Allardice.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The event was held on a humid day, which started bright before rain set in around 11:00. The racing was hot throughout however. With Philip Buys, Marco Joubert and Beers driving the pace in the early phases of the men\u2019s race. In the women\u2019s, Lill was the tempo setter initially before she escaped off the front on her own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Marco Joubert (leading) was the early aggressor in the elite men\u2019s race. But Wessel Botha was Imbuko {type}DEV\u2019s top finisher on the day. Photo by Oakpics.com.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A group of twelve favourites had established itself in the opening 25 kilometres. This elite selection contained Beers, Buys, Joubert, Wessel Botha, Tristan Nortje, Arno du Toit, Keagan Bontekoning, Gert Heyns, Michael Forster, Pieter du Toit and Jan Withaar. Imbuko {type}DEV\u2019s Joubert then started the attacking. \u201cMarco [Joubert] sent it down the descent to the Spice Route and I followed him, this attack caused a little gap and once it was established, I kept driving,\u201d Beers related. \u201cWessel [Botha] initially bridged across and then came with me when I dropped Marco. About half way through the route I put in a dig, after a few attempts to shake him, and I got away. From there it was head down to the finish.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Matt Beers, of Toyota Specialized, snapped the elastic to Wessel Botha near the 40 kilometre mark and rode the second half of the course solo. Photo by Oakpics.com.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was a fantastic race,\u201d Beers added. \u201cAnd it\u2019s great to win the title again!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Behind Beers, Botha faded through the second half of the course. This allowed Buys to fight his way into second. \u201cI\u2019m happy with what the power looked like and what I felt like,\u201d the PYGA Euro Steel man noted. \u201cBut Matt [Beers] was just one up today. It was a well-deserved victory. I\u2019m happy with my ride and the indications are good two-weeks out from the Absa Cape Epic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tristan Nortje completed the podium places, ahead of Botha who finished fourth and the young PYGA Euro Steel rider, Michael Forster. Beers\u2019 wining time was 3 hours, 9 minutes and 29 seconds. Buys finished 2 minutes and 43 seconds back, with Nortje a further 29 seconds in arrears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Philip Buys, of PYGA Euro Steel, finished strongly riding his way into second position behind Beers. Photo by Oakpics.com.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the women\u2019s race Lill led from the gun. Initially Amy Wakefield and Tiffany Keep stuck with the eventual champion, while Hayley Preen was just off the back of the group after 10 kilometres of racing. The South African cross-country champion then increased the pace. The tempo she set was too fierce for the rest to follow and once Lill was on her own there was no catching her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI just wanted to show what I was capable of today,\u201d Lill said. \u201cMy focus was to just ride like I know I can and then, whatever would happen would happen\u2026\u201d That approach paid off superbly well as she extended her lead throughout the course, once Wakefield and Co. had been distanced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was such a good route!\u201d Lill laughed. \u201cIt started raining here towards the end but luckily it was all downhill from there for me already. The rain actually made the trails nice and smooth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The punchy course on the Paarl Trails suited Candice Lill to perfection. The Seattle Coffee Co King Price Rola rider added the South African Marathon title to her cross country crown during the 2023 Bike Fest Paarl. Photo by Oakpics.com.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There was drama behind Lill as Wakefield struggled in the later stages. \u201cI was told Amy [Wakefield] was 90 seconds ahead of me at the tech zone,\u201d Hayley Preen explained. \u201cBut I caught her almost immediately and she didn\u2019t look good.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Preen surged through the final kilometres to finish strong, as Lill\u2019s nearest rival. Wakefield made it back to Rhebokskloof in third, citing illness as the reason for her travails. Lill\u2019s winning time was 3 hours, 53 minutes and 18 seconds. Preen was 8 minutes and 10 seconds off the victor, with Wakefield at 13 minutes and 3 seconds back. Sarah Hill and Katie Lennard completed the top five standings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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South African XCM Championships women\u2019s podium (from left to right): Amy Wakefield, third, Candice Lill, first, and Hayley Preen, second. Photo by Seamus Allardice.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Along with the elite men\u2019s and women\u2019s titles the sub-veteran and veteran men also raced the 75 kilometre course. Tyronne White and Craig Uria were the category victors, with the elder, Uria, actually finishing before the winning sub-veteran man. The women\u2019s age categories, as well as the junior and masters\u2019 men raced the 60 kilometre distance. Illiska Verwey was the only finisher in the sub-veterans women\u2019s category, meaning she misses out on a national champions jersey. Genevieve Weber took the veteran women\u2019s division, Cronje Beukes won the junior men\u2019s, Angeliq Coetzer the junior women\u2019s and Pieter Matthysen was the first of the masters\u2019 men across the line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bike Fest Paarl action continued in the afternoon on Saturday, with the Enduro, Kiddies Push Bike Race and the 5 Kilometre Fun Ride. On Sunday, 5 March, the age category races continue with South African champions being crowned in the youngest and oldest age categories. Visit www.bikefestpaarl.com for the full schedule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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South African XCM Championships men\u2019s podium (from left to right): Tristan Nortje, third, Matt Beers, first, and Philip Buys, second. Photo by Seamus Allardice.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

2023 South African Marathon Championships Results:
Elite Men<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Matt Beers, Toyota Specialized (3:09:29)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Philip Buys, PYGA Euro Steel (3:12:12 | + 2:43)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Tristan Nortje, Toyota Specialized (3:12:41 | +3:12)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Wessel Botha, Imbuko {type}DEV (3:14:35 | +5:06)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Michael Forster, PYGA Euro Steel (3:15:58 | +6:29)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

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

      \n
    1. Candice Lill, Seattle King Price Rola (3:53:18)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. Hayley Preen, Freewheel Cycology (4:01:28 | +8:10)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    3. Amy Wakefield, Efficient Insure Infiniti (4:06:21 | +13:03)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    4. Sarah Hill, Team Vivo Vita (4:16:57 | +23:39)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    5. Katie Lennard, Pedersen Lennard (4:23:13 | +29:55)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Sub-Veteran Men<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n
      1. Tyronne White (3:36:27)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      2. Craig Boyes(3:54:19)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      3. Theuns van der Bank (3:58:02)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

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

          \n
        1. Craig Uria (3:34:40)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        2. Andrew Hill (3:39:53)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        3. David Louw (3:49:24)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

          Sub-Veteran Women (60km)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \n
          1. Illiska Verwey (3:56:34)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

            Veteran Women (60km)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

              \n
            1. Genevieve Weber (3:18:59)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            2. Tess Keers (3:19:00)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
            3. Michelle George (3:24:34)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

              Junior Men (60km)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                \n
              1. Cronje Buekes (2:38:13)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
              2. Ernie Roets (2:44:01)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
              3. Alec Colesk\u00e9 (2:44:38)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

                Junior Women (60km)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                  \n
                1. Angeliq Coetzer (3:29:04)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                2. Liliam Baber (3:29:12)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                3. Carla Jansen van Vuuren (3:48:37)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

                  Master Men (60km)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                    \n
                  1. Pieter Matthysen (2:54:41)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                  2. Johan Labuschagne (3:01:02)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                  3. Andreas Studer (3:05:02)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

                    Find the full results here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                    Matt Beers and Candice Lill proved themselves to be a class apart at the Bike Fest Paarl on Saturday, 4 March. The Toyota Specialized man won his second South African Marathon title, on the 75 kilometre long course; which started and finished at Rhebokskloof Wine Estate outside Paarl. While Lill, of Seattle Coffee Co King […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":61759,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[5315],"featured_location":[338],"class_list":["post-61749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-sa-xcm-champs","featured_location-bottom-row"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61749","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\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61749"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61749\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61761,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61749\/revisions\/61761"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61749"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=61749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}