Cycling News and Race Results

David George and Kevin Evans came out all guns blazing on the opening stage of the three-day sani2c, presented by BoE Private Clients, in KwaZulu-Natal on Thursday.

The fortunes of South Africans Kevin Evans and David George of Team Nedbank 360Life finally took a positive turn when the pair claimed a dominant victory in the nine-day 2012 Old Mutual joBerg2c, South Africa’s longest mountain bike stage race, which ended at the weekend.

Kevin Evans and David George of Nedbank 360Life enjoyed a bittersweet triumph on the penultimate day of the Old Mutual joBerg2c as they dedicated their fifth stage win on Friday to the memory of friend and former national rider Juan van Heerden.

After seven days of racing, the Old Mutual joBerg2c is coming down to a two-horse race between defending champions Neil McDonald and Waylon Woolcock of RE:CM and overall leaders Kevin Evans and David George of Nedbank 360Life.

Kevin Evans and David George had more than winning on their minds as they extended their already comfortable overall lead to almost nine minutes on day six of the nine-day Old Mutual joBerg2c on Wednesday.

David George and Kevin Evans threw down the gauntlet in their first appearance at the nine-day Old Mutual joBerg2c as the serious mountain bike racing got underway on Saturday.

The Nedbank 360Life duo set a blistering pace on the 93km second stage from Frankfort to Reitz in the Free State to cross the line first in 3:01:32 and scoop the R10 000 daily prize as well as the overall lead.

They were followed home by Brandon Stewart and Jacques Rossouw (FedGroup Itec-Connect) in 3:02:15, who bested defending champions Waylon Woolcock and Neil MacDonald (RE-CM) by five seconds in a sprint finish.

George and Evans’ overall time of 7:23:24 puts them just short of a minute ahead of Stewart and Rossouw (7:24:07) going into tomorrow’s 125km third stage between Reitz and Sterkfontein Dam. Woolcock and MacDonald (7:24:12) lurk in third.

After the neutral zone out of Frankfort, the top names rode closely together along the banks of the Wilge River. The action started at the 15km mark when Stewart made an early break on the first technical section.

Capetonian George followed quickly while Evans, from Plettenberg Bay, shadowed Stewart’s partner Jacques Rossouw, who was third on the road.

“I was waiting for Jacques to close the gap but he didn’t have the legs,” said Evans. “So I went across and when Dave saw me he just put the hammer down.”

The two opened a gap on the chasing group that also included David Morison and Louis Bresler Knipe (Itec Connect-Vodacom) as well as stage one winners Nico Bell and Gawie Combrinck (Transact).

By the first water point at around 32km, the Absa Cape Epic runners-up had a minute’s lead, which shrank by 20 seconds as the chasers turned up the heat on the farm roads.

“We turned off into a cross wind and Dave pulled really hard there when we noticed the group starting to battle, so it opened up again to about a minute and 10 seconds.”

On the next stretch of single track, the pursuers had them in sight but were unable to close the gap.

Evans said they decided not to stop at the final water point to gain an extra few seconds in an effort to avoid a sprint finish on the final drag towards the Reitz showgrounds.

“It’s always a risk to go hard early on but it’s better than gambling on the sprint. It was a good day but we made it hard for ourselves.”

Epic champions Erik and Ariane Kleinhans (GMAC) stamped their authority on a strong mixed field with an impressive time of 3:22:38, which saw them place seventh overall.

Johan Labuschagne and Yolande de Villiers (Cycle Lab KTM) finished 10 minutes off the pace in 3:32:11, with Carel Bosman and Leana de Jager (PeptoPro-bizhub) claiming third in 3:42:17.

The Kleinhans pair’s overall time of 7:44:29 gives them the lead in the mixed section, followed by Labuschagne and De Villiers in 7:54:03. Bosman and De Jager are third on 8:04:09.

In the women’s race, reigning champions Ischen Stopforth and Catherine Williamson (bizhub-FCF) took line honours in 3:41:47. Sarah van Heerden and Jackie Church (Itec-Connect Vodacom) were second in 3:58:10.

Stopforth and Williamson’s combined time of 8:03:39 puts them an impressive 16 minutes ahead of Van Heerden and Church in the women’s overall standings.

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Visit www.oldmutual.co.za or www.joberg2c.co.za for more information.

The route took riders over 105km with 2 600m of climbing from Caledon back to Caledon. Two major climbs jabbed upwards on the day’s route profile. The first was the loose, long and steep Babylonstoren. Then it was the brutal, stony ascent to Charlie’s Heaven and riders should have been used to false peaks by now.

A dream start turned into the worst nightmare for Nedbank 360Life’s David George and Kevin Evans as the 2012 ABSA Cape Epic got underway this week. But on Wednesday’s monster Stage 3 the pair clawed their way back into podium contention after losing 24 minutes due to a damaged tyre on Stage 1.

After winning the ABSA Cape Epic's short opening prologue stage by the narrowest of margins on Sunday, South African Burry Stander and Swiss Christoph Sauser (36One-Songo-Specialized) put in a dominant display on Monday’s tough first stage proper to win the day and secure a commanding nine-minute lead overall with six days remaining.

A victory in the 2012 ABSA Cape Epic is the only thing on the minds of Kevin Evans and David George of Team Nedbank 360Life.