A 5 month long break in racing, saw the Western Province Gravity Enduro host round 3 for the first time at the infamous Contermanskloof MTB trails. The wind-swept, barren and dry surroundings presented a different kind of beauty and the 3 special stages left the 87 riders wanting more, despite a nasty wind and soaring temperatures. The 3 timed stages totaled a distance of 6.2km with an elevation drop of 546m and an average gradient of -8.3%.
As with previous Enduro's, the event was raced blind, meaning none of the riders saw the stages before race day. Local knowledge however always plays a role and with parts of the stages used in previous events, this was visible. With the top 5 separated by just 15 seconds, racing was extremely close over all 3 stages. Robert Starke edged out Matthew Lombardi by just 5 seconds to finish in a total time of 10m 40s, with Darryn Stow coming in 3rd just 5 seconds after Matthew. 4th and 5th was rounded up by Downhill pro Stefan Garlicki, and Contermanskloof local, Jaco Veldsman respectively. The women's race saw Rika Olivier take top step in a total time of 12m 58s, closely followed by Berlize Pritchard some 13 seconds behind. Third spot was claimed by Leigh Haskins.
A special thank you goes out to our sponsors (in no particular order)
Evoc,
Ion,
X-fusion,
510,
Trail and Tar and
PYGA, and Robert Starke, for preparing 3 awesome special stages. Without you guys coming to the party, none of this would be possible. So hats off to you. Another thank you goes to Grevel Ruddock and the Great-Time team, the Tygess medics who were on standby during the event and the WP DH Committee for all their hard work and dedication.
1. Rika Olivier 12.58
2. Berlize Pritchard 13.11
3. Leigh Haskins 15.37
4. Theresa Isherwood 18.27
5. Mathilda Dixon 19.24
1. Robert Starke 10.40
2. Matthew Lombardi 10.45
3. Darryn Stow 10.51
4. Stefan Garlicki 10.54
5. Jaco Veldsman 10.55
Full results can be found
here.
Video by Thomas Sandell.