The First Tankwa 3 Day Trek

Team Wilde participated in the very first Tankwa three-day international mountain bike stage race from 15 - 17 February '13.  The stages were set in the scenic Witzenberg Valley, Ceres Valley and Kouebokkeveld and totaled an impressive 253km.  Our very own Kabous Marra (MD of Wilde - Left) and his son in law, Jacques Groenewald (Right) successfully finished the 3 day race with a total time of 16:47:11 in the Overall Teams category.

Waylon Woolcock and Lourens Luus of Team RE:CM produced a perfectly balanced display of racing to win the Tankwa Trek that ended on Sunday in the Ceres region of South Africa’s Western Cape province.

It was a hard-fought win for the pair as they had to battle against some of the country’s strongest two-man teams and challenging terrain in what turned into an ideal build-up race for next month’s ABSA Cape Epic, the world’s most prestigious mountain bike stage in the same region.

Luus (21) and Woolcock (30) gained the overall lead late on Saturday’s Stage 2, which they then successfully defended on Sunday’s final stage. Second overall was the Cannondale Blend Properties pair of Darren Lill and Charles Keey with Oliver Munnik and Timo Cooper (GT Bridge Momsen) rounding out the podium places.

“We were half a minute off Lill and Keey after Stage 1 and on Stage 2 we knew they’d be giving it everything on the big climb that the race organisers dubbed the Merino Monster. We were right and we managed to stay with them to the summit. They’re strong climbers so it was pretty tough,” recalled Woolcock.

The Merino Monster incorporates 25km of ascent, but not all constant. The toughest part is an eight-kilometre section with a 12% gradient, which is where the race split properly, effectively turning it a two-team contest.

On the rough nine-kilometre descent that followed, Woolcock and Luus took some risks to open up a lead, which turned out to be the race-deciding move.

“Lill pretty much stayed with us, but Keey wasn’t as confident on the descent. At the bottom, with about 15km to the finish on district gravel roads, Lourens and I turned ourselves inside out and managed to win the stage and take the overall lead, which we then defended with some cautious riding today,” said Woolcock.

Hanlie Booyens and Ischen Stopforth, both experienced stage racers, teamed up to win the Women’s title, while Billy Stelling and his British teammate, Jane Neussli (BMC/Market on the Wharf) claimed the Mixed title. In the Solo division, Nico Pfitzenmaier (Bridge Momsen) secured the men’s crown, while Yolande de Villiers (Toyota Supercycling) claimed the women’s title.

“What an amazing event!” said Woolcock. “Besides spectacular race routes, the accommodation and catering were superb. Actually, that’s the best catering I’ve experienced at any bicycle race. I think this is going to become a really sought after race.”

"The Tankwa Trek is a fantastic event. I loved the singletrack on Stage 3 especially. It's a very good preparation race for the Cape Epic from a conditions perspective and the timing is spot-on," said Nussli, who will tackle the 2013 edition of the Cape Epic with Esther Suss to challenge for the women's category title.

“With just under 100 riders, we had a relatively small field, but that suited us for the first event,” said Carel Herholdt of Dryland Events, the organisers.“It was still a high quality field that experienced a new, challenging, late-summer stage race through amazing scenery, just over two hours drive from Cape Town.”

View spectacular stage 1, 2 and 3 video footage produced by BigShot Media by clicking on the stages below:

Stage 1

Stage 2

Stage 3 - Coming soon

Tankwa Trek 2013Final General Classification after Stage 3

Men Teams: 

1 Lourens Luus/Waylon Woolcock (RE:CM) 10:05:05
2 Charles Keey/Darren Lill (Cannondale Blend) 10:06:28
3 Oliver Munnik/Timo Cooper (GT Bridge Momsen) 10:22:45
4 Hannes Hanekom/SakkieHanekom (Welgemeen Boerdery) 10:49:16
5 Jandri Ferreira/Bennie Pretorius (Cornerstone Cycles) 11:51:06

Women Teams: 

1 Ischen Stopforth/Hanlie Booyens (Hanlie & Ischen) 12:25:08
2 Eulogy Du Plessis/Maritza Terblanche (Cycle Lab Tours) 15:52:00
3 Kathy Crabbe/Wendy Potgieter (Abbvie Girls) 16:06:45

Mixed Teams: 

1 Jane Nuessli/Billy Stelling (BMC Market on the Wharf) 11:22:30
2 Craig Gerber/Jennie Stenerhag (Newline Focus) 11:55:47
3 Katerina Slegrova/James Chevallier (Cycle Training Ladies) 13:23:24

Solo Male: 

1 Nico Pfitzenmaier 10:25:22
2 Abraao Azevedo 10:25:25
3 Robert Sim 10:57:01

Solo Female: 

1 Yolande De Villiers 12:01:14
2 Ann Harrison 12:41:02
3 Amanda Brooks 13:36:11

For full General Classification and daily stage results, visit www.tankwatrek.co.za 

For spectacular footage of the event, visit www.bigshotmedia.co.za

Compliments to www.oakpics.com for their great pictures.

Have a Wilde day!