This morning we left Calitzdorp and after a tour of the Karoo our stage would finish on top of the Swartberg pass. A real beast of a climb! This would be the first time in South African mountain biking history we would finish on top of an uncategorised climb. To make matters more interesting a R100 000 prize purse for the first team on top to grab the brief case full of crisp green notes.
We left Calitzdorp and soon we encountered some problems. A dropped water bottle early on wasn’t ideal, but no reason to panic. We cruised for a few more kilometres, and then trouble struck again as I flatted on a downhill which wasn’t of a particularly technical nature. With two plugs and a bomb we were on our way again.
Our day consisted of mostly chasing down team after team until we finally made it back to a group of riders we were with before including the: Robert Daniel/Momsen, Petrus ‘Patroon’ Malherbe (Future life) and Boyes (Contego).
On our way down the Swartberg Pass into Prince Albert with the Dutch boys
We rolled well together to the base of the beast. Here it was every man for himself. We managed to keep things nice and steady and reeled in big time to the Cube/Nutswerk boys from the Netherlands, who had gone out hard early, as well as finish just of the Robert Daniel/Momsen pair. This kept us safely in 4th position on GC.
Tomorrow we tackle another 100km stage but with considerably less climbing so let’s hope it’s not too much of a war zone out there.
Asrin Camp Setup in Prince Albert.
Zami and Hasi Cresting the beast.
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