14 Feb 2011 Stander, Speedy take top African Continental MTB spots
Burry Stander and Yolande Speedy took top honours at the 2011 African Continental MTB Championships which took place at Jonkershoek outside Stellenbosch on the 12 & 13 February.
After the event this past weekend that saw African Continental Champions being crowned in the Downhill and Cross Country categories, the focus will shift to the South African Championships in all three MTB disciplines currently contested in South Africa that count for Olympic and World Championships selection, namely Downhill (DHI), Cross Country (XCO) and Marathon (XCM).
These events will take place on the 6th March at Konterman’s Kloof outside Cape Town (DHI), 12th March in District 6 in Cape Town (XCO) and at Inanda Dam in KZN on the 20th March for the SA Marathon Championships.
“A most enjoyable ride!” This is how Burry Stander (Specialized/USN) described his winning performance in the pro-elite race of the African Cross Country MTB Championship at Jonkershoek, near Stellenbosch, on Saturday (12 February).
There are very good reasons why Stander enjoyed his race. For a change he had no punctures or any other mechanical problems which meant that he was not involved in a frantic chase to catch up with the race leaders.
“I had the near perfect race,” Stander said. His winning time for the seven-lap race was 1 hour 42 minutes and 08 seconds. Marc Bassingthwaighte (Garmin-adidas) finished second in 1:48:08, Philip Buys (Garmin-adidas) was third and Adrien Niyonshuti (MTN/Qhubeka) fourth.
Despite his comfortable win, Stander had some praise for his rivals.
“The start of the race was certainly one of the best. Everybody raced flat out over the first kilometer. I had never experienced anything like that in a South African cross country race. I only managed to take the lead halfway through the first lap.
“From then on I just made sure that I rode at a comfortable, consistent pace until the end.”
Niyonshuti had extra motivation to ride just that little bit harder on Saturday. The reason was that Rwanda’s ambassador went to Stellenbosch specially to watch the race and, of course, he did not want to disappoint a government official.
By finishing fourth Niyonshuti made sure that he became the first Rwandan ever to qualify for Olympic Games.
The performance by James Reid (Mr Price/BMC), who won his first ever u.23 cross-country race, displayed true class. His winning time for the six-lap race was 1:36:33. Dominic Calitz was second in 1:37:08 and Adrian Louw third in 1:39:13.
Not surprisingly, Yolandé Speedy (MTN/Qhubeka) won the pro-elite women’s cross-country race. She basically rode in front during the entire race for a winning time of 1:31:59.
As far as the women’s racing was concerned, the highlight was undoubtedly the performance by the 18-year-old Candice Neethling (Bizhub).
As with Reid, it was the first time she raced as an u.23 rider.
The moment the starter’s gun boomed Neethling set off like a rocket on fire, chasing Speedy. But, as misfortune would have it, her bike’s chain came off on one of the really technical rocky sections.
She had no choice but to stop and get off her bike to see if she could untangle the mess. It must have been a frustrating few minutes for Neethling, watching all the riders in the pro-elite group going past her. By the time she had her chain back where it belongs, she was stone last.
But Neethling refused to allow this setback to triumph over her. Like a seasoned professional she got back onto her bike and began her big chase.
“I just thought by myself that I might as well give it a go. Then slowly, one by one, I began to reel in the riders.”
Neethling’s gutsy performance was the talk of the spectators because, during the last three laps of the race, she basically achieved the same lap times as Speedy.
It is not surprising, therefore, that she won the u.23 race quite comfortably, beating Mariske Strauss by more than two minutes and Caitlin de Wet (Bizhub) by nearly five minutes.
Brendon Davids (Jeep) won the junior men’s race, with Gert Heyns second and Luke Roberts third.
The results are as follows:
DOWNHILL �
Men Junior UCI
1 Tiaan Odendaal 02.11.13
2 Alasdair Fey 02.11.99
3 Adi Van Der Merwe 02.13.72
4 Kyle Davids 02.15.69
5 Roman Kumpurs 02.26.32
6 Dewald Oosthuizen 02.41.98
~ 7 Nico Kellerman DNS
Men Elite
1 Andrew Neethling 02.03.57
2 Jonty Neethling 02.06.03
3 Johann Potgieter 02.06.29
4 Stefan Garlicki 02.08.87
5 Travis Browning 02.09.79
6 Timothy Bentley 02.10.26
7 Gary Barnard 02.10.41
8 Bradly Illingworth 02.13.84
9 Hayden Brown 02.14.14
10 Duran Van Eeden 02.16.01
11 Kelvin Purchase 02.16.73
12 Simon Dinkelman 02.17.53
13 Ryno Fourie 02.19.63
14 Luke Davis 02.20.73
15 Arnaud Li Hing Fui 02.23.62
16 Myles Kelsey 02.24.47
17 Michael Murdoch 02.45.93
18 Lee John 03.14.23
CROSS COUNTRY
Women Junior
1 Ashleigh Parker-Moffatt 01.01.43 3 RSA
2 Vera Adrian 01.03.53 3 NAM
3 Hayley Smith 01.04.37 3 RSA
4 2 Linda Van Wyk 01.05.40 3 RSA
5 Simone Vosloo 01.06.06 3 RSA
6 Savanagh Vosloo 01.06.55 3 RSA
7 Tarryn Brent 01.12.02 3 RSA
8 Andrea De Boer 01.15.20 3 RSA
9 Tayla Odendaal 01.15.50 3 RSA
10 Renthea Boshoff 00.52.07 2 LPD RSA
11 Pia Carstens 01.07.00 2 LPD RSA
Men Junior UCI
1 Brendon Davids 01.22.02 5 RSA
2 Gert Heyns 01.22.16 5 RSA
3 Luke Roberts 01.24.53 5 RSA
4 Patrick Belton 01.29.03 5 RSA
5 Richardt Ferreira 01.29.36 5 RSA
6 Dylan Hattingh 01.30.18 5 RSA
7 Werner Van Heerden 01.30.48 5 RSA
8 Stephan Reyneke 01.32.12 5 RSA
9 Murray Starr 01.32.30 5 RSA
10 Olivier Le Court De Billot 01.36.15 5 MRI
11 Sebastien Tyack 01.18.20 4 LPD MRI
12 Ruan Erasmus 01.18.21 4 LPD RSA
13 Ryan Gibbons 01.19.10 4 LPD RSA
14 Luke Mashiana 01.20.15 4 LPD RSA
15 Matthew Schofield 01.20.38 4 LPD RSA
16 Mathieu Le Blanc 01.21.15 4 LPD MRI
17 Evan Van Der Spuy 01.01.23 3 DNF RSA
18 Declan Sidey 01.02.42 3 DNF RSA
19 Kyle Dorkin 01.05.20 2 DNF RSA
20 Paul Rodenbach 00.17.15 1 DNF RSA
U-23 Women
1 Candice Neethling 01.14.29 4 RSA
2 Mariske Strauss 01.16.41 4 RSA
3 Caitlin De Wet 01.19.02 4 RSA
4 Emily Clarke 01.33.13 4 RSA
U-23 Men
1 James Reid 01.36.33 6 RSA
2 Dominic Calitz 01.37.08 6 RSA
3 Adriaan Louw 01.39.13 6 RSA
4 Rourke Croeser 01.43.22 6 RSA
5 Louis-Bresler Knipe 01.43.22 6 RSA
6 Bryce Munro 01.43.31 6 RSA
7 Lourens Luus 01.43.36 6 RSA
8 Heiko Reecker 01.44.40 6 NAM
9 Ryan Ellis 01.46.34 6 RSA
10 Ruan Du Toit 01.48.15 6 RSA
11 Hilton Frost 01.53.53 6 RSA
12 Mark Bridges 01.35.00 5 LPD RSA
13 Shaun Silver 01.38.55 5 LPD RSA
14 Michael Casey 01.41.47 5 LPD RSA
15 Robert Frost 01.17.00 4 LPD RSA
16 Darryn Purtell 01.19.00 4 LPD RSA
17 Frank Adrian 01.02.00 3 LPD NAM
18 Dwayne Klingbiel 01.04.00 3 LPD RSA
19 Bonani Xatasi 00.46.00 2 LPD RSA
20 Craig Boyes 00.55.23 3 DNF RSA
21 Jan-Hendrik Verdoes 00.17.28 1 DNF NAM
22 Colin Brent DNS RSA
Women Elite
1 Yolande Speedy 01.31.59 5 RSA
2 Samantha Sanders 01.44.08 5 RSA
3 Yolandi Du Toit 01.45.13 5 RSA
4 Karien Van Jaarsveld 01.49.45 5 RSA
5 Heletje Van Staden 01.52.02 5 NAM
6 Amy-Jane Mundy 01.33.27 4 LPD RSA
7 Tamryn Taylor 01.15.00 3 LPD RSA
8 Claudia Slattery 01.00.56 2 LPD RSA
Men Elite
1 Burry Stander 01.42.08 7 RSA
2 Marc Bassingthwaighte 01.48.08 7 NAM
3 Philip Buys 01.50.31 7 RSA
4 Adrien Niyonshuti 01.54.53 7 RWA
5 Erik Kleinhans 01.57.59 7 RSA
6 Mannie Heymans 02.01.06 7 NAM
7 Oliver Munnik 01.43.37 6 LPD RSA
8 Ben-Melt Swanepoel 01.25.00 5 LPD RSA
9 Matthys Beukes 01.26.00 5 LPD RSA
10 Andrew Warr 01.27.00 5 LPD RSA
11 Renay Groustra 01.10.00 4 LPD RSA
12 Yannick Lincoln 01.11.00 4 LPD MRI
13 Greig Knox 01.11.00 4 LPD RSA
14 Justice Makhale 01.14.00 4 LPD RSA
15 Lee John 00.55.00 3 LPD ZIM
16 Marthinus Esmeyer 00.56.00 3 LPD RSA
17 Chris Wolhuter 00.57.00 3 LPD RSA
18 Conrad Stoltz DNS RSA
19 Li Hing Fui DNS MRI