Urs Huber (Team Bulls) and compatriot Ariane Kleinhans (Team RE:CM) stormed to victory with Swiss precision in a soaking wet Sabie in Mpumalanga South Africa for the first round of the UCI World Marathon Series and the second leg of the South African Marathon National Series.
The in form Huber finished the 120km marathon in a time of 5:28:57 followed by his teammate and Cape Epic teammate Karl Platt in a time of 5:31:07. Kevin Evans (Fedgroup Itec) was the first South African to cross the line in third place in a time of 5:43:33, almost 15 minutes behind Huber.
The race drew riders from 16 countries including some of the top riders from Switzerland, Germany, France as well as riders from Lesotho and even as far as David Kinjah, Chris Froome's mentor from Kenya.
According to some of the riders, it was complete carnage out there with many of the pre-race favourites struck down by mechanical failures, leaving the field wide open to those that survived the treacherous conditions. Victims included the likes of MTN Dullstroom winner Lourens Luus (Team RE:CM), local favourite Max Knox (Team Ghost), Waylon Woolcock and teammate Charles Keey (Cannondale Blend), France's Remi la Fonte, Germany's Steffen Thum and Simon Gegenheimer (Rose Ultra Sport) to name but a few.
In the women's marathon Kleinhans and teammate Cherise Stander rode in first and second for the majority of the race. Stander had the misfortune of a sidewall cut on her tyre, leaving her stranded on the side of the trails watching second and third place slip away from her while battling to fix her tyre.. Kleinhans went on to a dominating win over Biogen Toyota's Robyn de Groot in a time of 4:22:22s and de Groot in 3:31:00. Amy Mcdougal (Valencia cycling) topped off the podium follow by Stander and rising star Candice Neethling (BMC Velo Life).
Full Results
Elite men
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|
| 1 | Urs Huber (Swi) | 5:28:57 |
| 2 | Karl Platt (Ger) | 0:02:10 |
| 3 | Kevin Evans (RSA) | 0:14:36 |
| 4 | Andrew Hill (RSA) | 0:16:54 |
| 5 | Gert Heyns (RSA) | 0:17:26 |
| 6 | Nico Bell (RSA) | 0:18:09 |
| 7 | Gabriel Combrinck (RSA) | 0:19:04 |
| 8 | Matthys Beukes (RSA) | 0:21:53 |
| 9 | Neil Macdonald (RSA) | 0:22:32 |
| 10 | Ben Melt Swanepoel (RSA) | 0:47:32 |
| 11 | Henry Uys (RSA) | 0:53:54 |
| 12 | Christopher Wolhuter (RSA) | 0:54:56 |
| 13 | Timo Cooper (RSA) | 1:01:04 |
| 14 | Luis Alberto Costa Leao Pinto (Por) | 1:01:27 |
| 15 | David Low (RSA) | 1:03:36 |
| 16 | Remi Laffont (Fra) | 1:08:38 |
| 17 | Timothy Hammond (RSA) | 1:10:43 |
| 18 | J P Jung (RSA) | 1:12:33 |
| 19 | Simon Gegenheimer (Ger) | 1:29:14 |
| 20 | Renay Groustra (RSA) | 1:30:57 |
| 21 | Sipho Madolo (RSA) | 1:36:12 |
| 22 | Phetetso Monese LES | 2:06:13 |
| 23 | Given Phetla (RSA) | 2:55:12 |
| 24 | Glen Colby (RSA) | 3:06:03 |
Elite women
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|
| 1 | Ariane Kleinhans (RSA) | 4:22:22 |
| 2 | Robyn De Groot (RSA) | 0:08:38 |
| 3 | Amy Mcdougall (RSA) | 0:11:57 |
| 4 | Cherise Taylor (RSA) | 0:17:43 |
| 5 | Candice Neethling (RSA) | 0:18:58 |
| 6 | Yolandi Du Toit (RSA) | 0:23:47 |
| 7 | Ashleigh Parker-Moffatt (RSA) | 0:31:44 |
| 8 | Eszter Erdelyi (RSA) | 0:31:45 |
| 9 | Kim Westbrook (RSA) | 0:41:22 |
| 10 | Janine King (RSA) | 0:52:14 |
| 11 | Diana Carolin (RSA) | 0:53:20 |
| 12 | Nicola Giliomee (RSA) | 1:49:15 |
| 13 | Nicolene Van Der Sandt (RSA) | 2:31:26 |
