Sabie Classic was the 4th leg of the MTN Series and as the next MTN event is only in May, everyone was keen to make this one count. This year’s event again proved to be a big challenge as the new Marathon route included a total of 2110m of climbing over a distance of 74km.
We set off in dry, sunny conditions which was a blessing after all the mud at the MTN Clarens event the previous weekend.
The course mainly consisted of two long, steep climbs followed by their descents and then the tortuous undulations of the last 20km back home. Barely 5km into the race, we found ourselves on the first major climb on the day. Here Yolande Speedy and Eszter Elderlyi (both team MTN/Qhubeka) pushed hard and it caused our group to splinter on the lower slopes of the climb. I reached the top (around 30km) on my own in 5th position and continued on in lone pursuit of the leaders.
Up front Speedy was experiencing a bit of bad luck as she had to stop twice. First she had to tighten a loose seatpost and then she had to stop and repair a puncture. On both occasions she managed to ride back up to her team mate, Eszter, who was in the leading position. At the end all the chasing caught up to Speedy and Eszter managed to beat her in the sprint for the line to take the Victory at Sabie Classic with Speedy finishing just behind her in 2nd place.
The ladies behind the two MTN/ Qhubeka rider s were putting in individual Time Trial efforts. From the first climb everyone was left to chase on their own, and crossed the finish line one by one. Arianne Luthi (Team Contego ) was the next rider home finishing in 3rd place. She was followed by Ischen Stopforth (Team Bizhub) in 4th place and me (Team Bizhub) in 5th place to round out the top 5 placings.
The new format of the MTN races sees the Marathon and Ultra-Marathon taking place on the Saturday and the half-marathon together with the kiddie’s races taking place on the Sunday. For me it’s really a great initiative as it gives you the opportunity to focus on the main events the one day and then have a pleasant time on the bikes with family /friends/ sponsors the following day.
On Sunday I did the 15km kiddies race with friends of mine and their kids. This turned out to be quite a treat riding with moms, dads and kiddies from all ages. I do hope I’ll get the opportunity to do it again in the future.
My Team Bizhub cycling kit turned out to be very popular amongst the moms and little girls and I must admit I truly enjoyed all the compliments along the route. You can just imagine PINK cycling kit with white daisies on, any little girls dream!
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