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Huber and Kleinhans win Sabie marathon

Treacherous conditions for UCI Marathon World Series race

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) TeamResult
1Urs Huber (Swi)5:28:57
2Karl Platt (Ger)0:02:10
3Kevin Evans (RSA)0:14:36
4Andrew Hill (RSA)0:16:54
5Gert Heyns (RSA)0:17:26
6Nico Bell (RSA)0:18:09
7Gabriel Combrinck (RSA)0:19:04
8Matthys Beukes (RSA)0:21:53
9Neil Macdonald (RSA)0:22:32
10Ben Melt Swanepoel (RSA)0:47:32
11Henry Uys (RSA)0:53:54
12Christopher Wolhuter (RSA)0:54:56
13Timo Cooper (RSA)1:01:04
14Luis Alberto Costa Leao Pinto (Por)1:01:27
15David Low (RSA)1:03:36
16Remi Laffont (Fra)1:08:38
17Timothy Hammond (RSA)1:10:43
18J P Jung (RSA)1:12:33
19Simon Gegenheimer (Ger)1:29:14
20Renay Groustra (RSA)1:30:57
21Sipho Madolo (RSA)1:36:12
22Phetetso Monese LES2:06:13
23Given Phetla (RSA)2:55:12
24Glen Colby (RSA)3:06:03

Elite women
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Ariane Kleinhans (RSA)4:22:22
2Robyn De Groot (RSA)0:08:38
3Amy Mcdougall (RSA)0:11:57
4Cherise Taylor (RSA)0:17:43
5Candice Neethling (RSA)0:18:58
6Yolandi Du Toit (RSA)0:23:47
7Ashleigh Parker-Moffatt (RSA)0:31:44
8Eszter Erdelyi (RSA)0:31:45
9Kim Westbrook (RSA)0:41:22
10Janine King (RSA)0:52:14
11Diana Carolin (RSA)0:53:20
12Nicola Giliomee (RSA)1:49:15
13Nicolene Van Der Sandt (RSA)2:31:26

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