Knox, Zahnd win opening Cape Pioneer Trek stage

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Over the last four days it has been a case of different day, different province, different mountain bike tour and even different teammate. The only constant seems to be Max Knox of DCM’s desire to “kill off” his rivals one by one with his cool and calculating hard riding.

Within 24 hours of having won all three stages of the Three Towers Mountain bike tour in the Lowveld with Brandon Stewart as his teammate, Knox also managed to win the first stage of the Cape Pioneer, which started at the Chandelier Nature Reserve just outside Oudtshoorn and finished at Milkwood Primary in Mosselbaai. His teammate this time round is Thomas Zahnd from Switzerland.

Knox and Zahnd’s winning time for the stage over 135km was 5 hours 43 minutes. Kevin Evans and Adrien Niyonshuti (MTN-Energade) finished second, 3 minutes and 09 seconds behind.

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Stewart (DCM) riding with Jacques Janse van Rensburg was yesterday equally impressive finishing third (4 minutes 23 seconds behind).

What is remarkable about Knox and Stewart’s performance is the fact that they only arrived on Sunday night at nine o’clock in Oudtshoorn. That was a mere 10 and half hours before the tour was due to start.

Despite their exhausting race against time from Nelspruit to Oudtshoorn the two DCM riders were not scared to immediately make the racing the moment the starter's gun went off.

Within the first 30 kilometers of racing they manage to split the field leaving only five teams to battle it out. As predicted beforehand the stage was won and lost on the legendary rough climb going through the Attakwas.

By the time they were through the Attakwas only Knox/Zahnd, Evans/Niyonshuti and Stewart/Janse van Rensburg were away on their own.

The deciding moment came about 10 kilometers from the finish when Knox put the proverbial hammer down.

“I just wanted to test the other riders to see how strong they were. Suddenly Thomas and I were out in front all by ourselves. From then on we just ensured that we kept riding at a nice consistent tempo.”

Despite of their convincing stage-victory Knox is very realistic about their overall chances.

“No tour is ever won or lost on the first day. There is still a lot of hard riding left and with mountain biking being so unpredictable it would be really unwise to already start talking about an overall victory.”

A completely honest Zahnd admitted afterwards that he had to learn to spell the word suffer backwards during the first stage of the DCM Cape Pioneer.

“I really battled to keep up with Max. Coming from Europe I am not used to ride in such hot conditions, but I am confident that my body will adapt to the African weather.

“I got a big scare about halfway into the race when a stick got stuck in my front wheel. The moment it happened I flew over the handlebars of my bike and hit the ground at a high speed. Luckily I did not break any bones but certainly was not a good racing experience.

“I must admit the scenery along the whole route was to say the least impressive, it made all my suffering worthwhile.”

Unfortunately for Janse van Rensburg he had to stop about five kilometers from the finish due to vomiting and severe stomach cramps.

“It was so frustrating because I was feeling really good up until then. I thought by drinking the right medication that my problem would be something of the past, but obviously it is not. What was positive for me is the fact that I could manage to ride with the leaders through Attakwas. It proved to me that my technical skills have certainly approved,” Janse van Rensburg said.Over the last four days, it has been a case of different day, different province, different mountain bike tour and even different teammate.

The only constant seems to be Max Knox of DCM's desire to "kill off" his rivals one by one with his cool and calculating hard riding.

Within 24 hours of having won all three stages of the Three Towers Mountain bike tour in the Lowveld with Brandon Stewart as his teammate, Knox also managed to win the first stage of the Cape Pioneer which started at the Chandelier Nature Reserve just outside Oudtshoorn and finished at Milkwood Primary in Mosselbaai. His teammate this time round is Thomas Zahnd from Switzerland.

Knox and Zahnd's winning time for the stage over 135km was five hours and 43 minutes. Kevin Evans and Adrien Niyonshuti (MTN-Energade) finished second, three minutes and nine seconds behind. Stewart (DCM), riding with Jacques Janse van Rensburg, was equally impressive, finishing third (four minutes and 23 seconds behind).

Knox and Stewart's performance only arrived on Sunday night, the evening before the race, at nine o'clock in Oudtshoorn. That was a mere 10 and half hours before the Cape Pioneer Trek was due to start.

Within the first 30 kilometers of racing they manage to split the field, leaving only five teams to battle it out. As predicted beforehand, the stage was won and lost on the legendary rough climb going through the Attakwas.

By the time they were through the Attakwas only Knox & Zahnd, Evans & Niyonshuti and Stewart & van Rensburg were away on their own.

The deciding moment came about 10 kilometers from the finish when Knox put the proverbial hammer down.

"I just wanted to test the other riders to see how strong they were. Suddenly, Thomas and I were out in front all by ourselves. From then on we just ensured that we kept riding at a nice consistent tempo."

Despite of their convincing stage-victory Knox is very realistic about their overall chances. "No tour is ever won or lost on the first day. There is still a lot of hard riding left and with mountain biking being so unpredictable it would be really unwise to already start talking about an overall victory."

A completely honest Zahnd admitted afterwards that he had to learn to spell the word suffer backwards during the first stage of the Cape Pioneer. "I really battled to keep up with Max. Coming from Europe I am not used to riding in such hot conditions, but I am confident that my body will adapt to the African weather.

"I got a big scare about halfway into the race when a stick got stuck in my front wheel. The moment it happened, I flew over the handlebars of my bike and hit the ground at a high speed. Luckily I did not break any bones but certainly was not a good racing experience.

"I must admit the scenery along the whole route was to say the least impressive, it made all my suffering worthwhile."

Unfortunately for van Rensburg, he had to stop about five kilometers from the finish due to vomiting and severe stomach cramps.

"It was so frustrating because I was feeling really good up until then. I thought by drinking the right medication that my problem would be something of the past, but obviously it is not. What was positive for me is the fact that I could manage to ride with the leaders through Attakwas. It proved to me that my technical skills have certainly approved," van Rensburg said.

Mixed category

The racing in the mixed category might just turn out to be one of the big highlights. Ischen Stopforth and Marcel Deacon won the first stage from Oudtshoorn to Mosselbay in six hours, 49 minutes and 36 seconds. Kobus and Fienie Barnard finished second in 6:52:31, and the Swiss Team of Patrick Griessen and Ariane Luthi were third in seven hours and two minutes.

But the battle is far from being won. Yolandi de Villiers and Johan Labuschagne, who despite finishing fifth, 45 minutes behind Stopforth/Deacon, refused to accept defeat.

"I know we are one of the stronger teams, we just had some really bad luck. Quite early on during the race Johan had the unfortunate privilege to have his bike's tyre cut open by a sharp rock," said de Villiers.

"Because it was such a big cut, we immediately realized that we were in serious trouble. We did not have a spare tyre with us. There was no way to fix such a big cut on route.

"It meant that Johan was forced to stop every few kilometers to fix a puncture. I just kept on riding at a slow consistent pace hoping that he would catch up with me. It became so bad that near the end of the race, I had to wait nearly 45 minutes at the side of the road before Johan eventually reached me. I can't tell you how frustrating it was for both of us," De Villiers said.

"We are going to go 'guns blazing' right to the end. I know that we are capable of making up 10 minutes in each of the remaining stages that is of course barring another serious mechanical setback."

Women's category

One of the remarkable stories of the day was the ride of Nathalie Schaeffer and Renate Teller from the Ride for Hearing Team who are the current leaders in the category for women. They won the first stage in seven hours, 33 minutes and 48 seconds.

What makes them true DCM Cape Pioneer heroes is the fact that Telser is deaf but keeps on challenging life full on. Scheiffer won the women's World Cup-race in Switzerland.

Robyn Adendorf and Sarah van Heerden finished second among the women in the stage. Their time was 7:56:46.

Stage 1 Full results

General classification after stage 1