Evans and George clinch overall victory

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Kevin Evans and David George (Nedbank 360 Life) won the DCM Cape Pioneer Trek overall, but during the last stage on Saturday, there were moments when the team was one man down.

The little mishap occurred while Evans was riding through one of the technical sections. A cameraman was running next to him, trying to talk to him.

The moment the conversation was finished, Evans crashed heavily onto some rocks. He was back on his mountain bike in no time, but for some minutes he grimaced with pain with every pedal stroke.

"I cannot believe what happened. I really thought that my run of bad luck was over, but apparently it was not. I think I have probably cracked a rib. Luckily this was my last race of the season, but I would have loved to have started my holiday without this pain."

For Evans and George their victory in the DCM Cape Pioneer Trek was a case of "mission accomplished".

"It was our goal to win right from the start and that is exactly what we did. The fact that we have also won two stages in the process, is a bonus.

"It is a good way to finish our season," George said.

It should be no surprise that Christoph Sauser (Songo.info), Switzerland's world champion, and Max Knox (Ghost), winner of last year's Cape Pioneer Trek, won the 98km last stage (George to Oudtshoorn as well.

This was their fourth stage victory and one cannot help wondering what would have happened if it had not been for their bad luck during stages 1 and 4. They lost a total of 150 minutes in these two stages.

Knox was quick to point out that words like "if" and "what" are irrelevant in mountain biking.

"Whatever happened, happened and it cannot be changed. Yes, we did have some bad luck, but that is mountain biking. Next time we could have a near perfect race. As a mountain biker you learn to take the bad with the good."

According to Sauser they did not plan to win the last stage. "I was not having a good day, so I wheelsucked behind Mathys Beukes (MTB Destination.com) for kilometres on end to save my energy. It helped because towards the end of the race I became stronger. When Mathys dropped out and we were in the lead, we decided to go for the stage win."

Their winning time was 3:31:50. Neil MacDonald and Waylon Woolcock (RE:CM) finished second in 3:34:30 and Ben-Melt Swanepoel and Nico Bell (Team Need Sponsor) third in 3:34:36.

Sauser and Knox described their six days of racing as great fun.

Adrien Niyonshuti (MTN-Qhubeka) is undoubtedly one of the tour's unsung heroes. He did his utmost to achieve a podium finish every day, but it was not to be. However, racing up the old Outeniqua Pass, which was built in 1847, during the last stage, he had some consolation.

Niyonshuti attacked at the foot of the pass and managed to ride away from everybody else to win the king of the mountain hotspot. Then, he had to sit up and wait for his teammate, Jacques Janse van Rensburg, shortly afterwards.

Janse van Rensburg said, "I feel bad. Adrien was so strong throughout the tour. There is nothing I would have loved more than to be able to keep up with him, but I just did not have the legs.

"Adrien asked me before the sixth stage whether I would mind if he went out hard to try and win the king of the mountain hotspot. He was worried that, in doing so, he would jeopardize our overall third-place position. I immediately encouraged Adrien to go for it."

Beukes, who won the tour's solo category, said he hoped that this would be the beginning of great things for him. "I have been battling for years when I raced marathons. I think it probably was because I did not believe in my own abilities.

"But this has changed now. I have proven to myself over the last six days that I am good enough to be competitive over longer distances. So watch this space."

The fact that Swanepoel and Bell finished second overall is another amazing result of the tour. They are actually two amateurs who have to work to support themselves.

Bell, who owns a cycle shop in Nelspruit, works six or more hours a day. During these hours, he has to stand on his feet. Many evenings when he goes home, his feet are swollen, but he does not complain about it. He is doing what he enjoys most to do, which is to encourage people to take up cycling as a sport and to start racing.

However, to find time for training, is a major frustration. "I am lucky if I manage to ride for three hours a day."

Erik and Ariane Kleinhans (Contego/Giant/Sludge) won the mixed category and Ischen Stopforth and Catherine Williamson (Bizhub) were the winners of the women's category.

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