FORTY-TWO cyclists from as far away as the Western Cape and Gauteng took part in the first Trek 2 Teebus race, which took place from April 26 to 29 at Harmonie Farm, west of Steynsburg.
Matthew Keyser (19) and Henry Liebenberg teamed up for their debut Trek 2 Teebus race. This was the first time they had raced together, so racing in a team was a bit of a challenge for them.
The Silverback Volvo cyclists raced as hard as they could during the three-day Karoo stage race to win the overall title of the Trek 2 Teebus.
“Our main goal, apart from winning the race, was to go out and keep the pace hard and constant while playing it safe,” said Liebenberg.
Day one of the event covered 72km with 1 030m of elevation.
Day two took riders on a 55km route with 980m of elevation, while the final day featured an 80km stage with 780m of elevation.
During stage one on Friday, April 27, the riders enjoyed the beautiful Karoo scenery. The route featured gravel sections, jeep track and single cattle tracks.
The opening stage was won by Liebenberg and Keyser, who completed the stage in 2:47:25.
Stage two took place on the Saturday, when the riders enjoyed a shorter 55km route, which took them through mountainous plains, swamps, marshy sections and over some obstacles along the way.
The second stage was won by Liebenberg and Keyser, completing the race in 1:49:09.
The final and last Trek 2 Teebus Stage three (on Sunday April, 29) consisted of an 80km route with 780m of elevation.
The special feature of the day was the underground section that went into the Orange-Fish Tunnel operating room and back.
Liebenberg and Keyser completed a clean-sweep by winning the third and final stage and with it the overall title of the Trek 2 Teebus, which finished at Harmonie Farm.
The Silverback-Volvo pair completed the 80km stage in 2:45:45, finishing with a winning general classification time of 7:22:19 over 207km in the three days.
Euodia Cycles-Cadence Tygervalley’s Malan Gys and Johan Coetzee finished the final stage in second to come home second overall.
A-Z’s Zane Coetzee and Anel Strampe won the women’s third stage in 3:31:28 and won the overall title in 10:07:36. Janwurm Angri’s Mari du Toit and Janize van Staden followed in 4:31:11 and 13:06:54 respectively.
Jordan Wisdom won the solo men’s category in the final stage with a time of 2:45:46, but Christo Roos won the overall title in 7:42:08 – over 12 minutes clear of Wisdom in second.