Mackenzie Club, 14 May 2021. It was a sprint finish as the PYGA Euro Steel team of Matthys Beukes and Gert Heyns took the stage win at day one of the KAP sani2c today, in a time of 02:50:13, just two seconds ahead of teammates Philip Buys and Pieter du Toit. Matt Beers powered across the line just ahead of the second PYGA Euro Steel team but his teammate Wessel Botha was seconds behind and the pair had to be satisfied with third place for the stage (02:50:19).
Craig Thomson from Victory Park in Johannesburg has completed the KAP sani2c three day mountain bike stage race nine times, and he is about to take on his tenth this week. The race covers 266 kms of spectacular trails from Himeville near Underberg, to Scottburgh on the South Coast in Kwazulu-Natal There are two versions of the event, the Adventure and the Race - they travel the same route but start on consecutive days in order to facilitate the number of riders who participate.
The competition is hotting up for the women’s race at KAP sani2c later this week, as Robyn de Groot and Amy McDougall have teamed up at the last minute, and the men’s field has the best of SA men’s mountain biking lining up, on form and ready to race.
After 2020 saw a number of shake-ups amongst South Africa’s professional mountain bikers, many have settled into new teams and are ready to race KAP sani2c next month. The organisers are delighted to be hosting the usual sani2c magic, both for those looking for the ride of their lives, and for the professional teams who had very little racing last year.
Watch the 2020 sani2c post-race ENCA insert.