{"id":917,"date":"2011-05-06T15:49:02","date_gmt":"2011-05-06T13:49:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/?p=917"},"modified":"2011-05-06T15:49:02","modified_gmt":"2011-05-06T13:49:02","slug":"drama-as-joberg2c-lead-changes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/drama-as-joberg2c-lead-changes\/","title":{"rendered":"Drama as joBerg2c lead changes"},"content":{"rendered":"

A drama-filled stage eight, the penultimate of the event, saw the overall lead of the Fairbairn Capital\/Old Mutual joBerg2c change hands for the first time in a week.<\/p>\n

Neil MacDonald and Waylon Woolcock of Team RE:CM galloped to their sixth stage win of the nine-day event after overall leaders Brandon Stewart and Darren Lill of Fedgroup Berg and Bush were left stranded with a flat tyre while leading.<\/p>\n

Team RE:CM completed the 99-kilometre stage between Mackenzie Club in Ixopo and Jolivet in the Highflats region of KwaZulu-Natal in 3:45:43 to turn a deficit of just over a minute into a lead of more than 26.<\/p>\n

Max Knox and Rwanda’s Adrien Niyonshuti of MTN-DoItNow consolidated their third place in the general classification after finishing second in 3:55:27, while David Morison and Stuart Marais of Blend Properties took their fourth consecutive third-place finish to strengthen their fourth position.<\/p>\n

But the story of the day was the technical issues suffered by the overall leaders, which started when Stewart cut the sidewall of his rear tyre in a sugarcane field after the crossing of the Umkomaas River.<\/p>\n

“I put in a tube and then, two kilometres later, a porcupine quill punctured it again. I replaced it, but had to inflate it once more 20 kilometres later.”<\/p>\n

According to Stewart, his tyre deflated for the final time about 15 kilometres from the finish and he was forced to finish the stage on the bare rim.<\/p>\n

“I’m absolutely gutted about this. We needed the win for all sorts of reasons. But take nothing away from the winners.”<\/p>\n

MacDonald and Woolcock were unable to match Fedgroup Berg and Bush on the technical descent into the Umkomaas valley.<\/p>\n

“We had to let them go; they were too quick for us. We tried to limit our losses in the valley and focused on maintaining a fast but steady tempo,” said MacDonald.<\/p>\n

“A few kilometres after the suspension bridge we saw Fedgroup standing in the road. We were riding over blackish shale and I figured they had a sidewall cut.”<\/p>\n

MacDonald said it was “terrible luck” for the former leaders. “It’s a horrible way to lose a race, but I guess it’s part of mountain biking.<\/p>\n

“The trick is to minimise technicals, but sometimes it’s unavoidable. We’ve been really lucky.”<\/p>\n

Despite two punctures over the closing 30 kilometres, Ischen Stopforth and Brit Catherine Williamson of Team bizhub won the stage in 4:45:59 to extend their tidy overall lead in the women’s section.<\/p>\n

Erik and Ariane Kleinhans of Fairbairn Capital went unchallenged in the mixed category, stopping the clock on 4:33:15.<\/p>\n

“We loved the course today,” said Stopforth. “We rode with Yolandi (du Toit) and Aur\u00e9lie (Halbwachs) through the first section of single track, but dropped them when we started climbing.”<\/p>\n

She said Williamson really came to the party on the technical portions after a nervous start to the tour.<\/p>\n

“We now have a comfortable lead and basically just have to stay on our bikes tomorrow.”<\/p>\n

The final stage of the 900-kilometre race on Saturday is a relatively short burst of 75 kilometres from Jolivet to Scottburgh.<\/p>\n

Visit www.joberg2c.co.za, follow joberg2c_journo on Twitter or join the Facebook page.<\/p>\n

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Neil MacDonald and Waylon Woolcock take their sixth stage win as well as the overall lead in the Fairbairn Capital\/Old Mutual joBerg2c at Jolivet near Highflats on Friday. Photo: Full Stop Communications<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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