Written by Sean Badenhorst [266 hits]
 Brandon Stewart got a hometown hero’s cheer when he hauled his crash-scuffed race-weary body across the finish line to win a muddy, drama-filled Mazda MTN 50 Miler mountain bike race in Hilton, KwaZulu-Natal on Sunday.
Stewart, who lives a just short freewheel away from Grace College where the race was hosted, and his DCM Chrome teammate, Max Knox, put on a dominant display of allround mountain bike racing strength to conquer a strong field and a tough 78km route to claim a one-two finish, both finishing in three hours, 25 minutes and seven seconds.
Knox, the stronger rider on the day and winner of Round 5 of the prestigious Mazda MTN Series in Harrismith in September, allowed Stewart to cross the line first to ensure each had a National Series win for the year and to give Stewart the honour of winning in his home town.
“Max was so strong today and he really just kept motivating me through the final 15 kays when I was spent,” said a weary, but smiling Stewart.
We decided to push the pace on the first climb to get the King of the Mountains prize and at the top we’d opened up a gap on the others. By 50 kays we had more than five minutes over the rest and somehow we doubled that by the time we finished.
Capetonian Johnny Kritzinger (Schwinn) claimed the final podium place more than 10 minutes after Stewart and Knox had finished with Melt Swanepoel (MTN Energade) and Dana Coetzee (Red Mongoose) rounding out the top five.
Stewart’s podium grin was interrupted by the occasional grimace following the high-speed crash he had early in the race.
It was a bit silly of me, but a straightforward jump turned into a dump when my front wheel slipped as I hit the lip of a drainage mound to get a bit of air for the TV camera that was there,” said Stewart somewhat sheepishly. “I was going about 50 kays an hour and I hit the deck really hard, hurting my shoulder and getting a few grazes. But my initial pain began to subside as the race progressed although I’m feeling sore now.
The women’s race had it’s fair share of season-ending drama when Samantha Oosthuizen (Garmin DCM) upstaged pre-race favourites Tania Raats (Fox Maverick) and Carla Rowley (MTN Energade) to grab the biggest win of her career.
Caught up in a battle for the final Series title, Raats and Rowley started fast, swopping the lead for most of the first half of the race until Raats began to pull clear of the Rowley, the Series leader. Oosthuizen, a slow starter, was in sixth place early on but began to pick off her rivals steadily as the race progressing, eventually passing Rowley just after 50km.
The 24-year-old then set her sights on a tiring Raats, who appeared to have the race victory sewn up until Oosthuizen caught her with 500 metres remaining. The pair broke into a spontaneous weary-legged sprint, but it was Oosthuizen that prevailed, crossing the line first in a time of 04:29:40. Raats was four seconds slower with Rowley a distant third.
“I couldn’t believe I was closing in on the other women so steadily. I didn’t start as fast as they did and it must have counted in my favour in the later part of the race,” said an elated Oosthuizen.
I don’t think Tania was expecting to be caught and when I did catch her we started sprinting from way out kind of like cat-and-mouse, but a very tired cat and mouse! I had more left in me and was so happy to win my first Mazda MTN Series title.
The final Mazda MTN Series rankings were also decided on the day with Kevin Evans, who’d chosen not to compete, claiming the men’s overall title – his fourth in succession – and Raats upstaging Rowley by the narrowest of margins to capture the women’s crown.
In the 37km Ferdevco Half-marathon, 18-year-old Bryce Munro overcame an early wrong-turn setback to win the men’s category and with it confirm his victory in the 2008 Series. In the women’s event, Emily Clarke captured her first major event victory, but the overall Series title went to another teenager, Genee Steyn.
For detailed results and final Mazda MTN Series rankings, click here
Mazda MTN 50 Miler 78km Marathon 2008
Hilton, KwaZulu-Natal
Leading results
MEN
Overall
1 Brandon Stewart (DCM Chrome) 03hr25min07sec
2 Max Knox (DCM Chrome) 03:25:07
3 Johnny Kritzinger (Schwinn) 03:35:35
4 Melt Swanepoel (MTN Energade) 03:42:36
5 Dana Coetzee (Schwinn) 03:48:43
6 Phillip Buys (Garmin DCM) 03:52:42
7 Jock Green (Garmin DCM) 03:52:54
8 Justice Makhale (DCM Chrome) 03:53:02
9 Jan Withaar 04:04:26
10 Johan van Zyl (Mr Price GT) 04:04:30
Junior
1 Timothy Stark 04:18:33
2 Mark Bridges 04:24:35
3 Sboniso Ntombela 04:33:13
Senior
1 Jan Withaar 04:04:26
2 Dion Froneman 04:09:38
3 Nicholas Porteous 04:14:21
Sub-Veteran
1 Jock Green (Garmin DCM) 03:52:54
2 Brett Dickson 04:06:18
3 Renato Albrecht (Garmin DCM) 04:18:35
Veteran
1 Jeremy Thomson 04:29:53
2 Errol Thole 04:38:58
3 Martin Hogan 04:4009
Master
1 Paul Lancaster 04:44:13
2 Jose De Sousa 04:48:28
3 Cobus Slabbert 04:50:42
WOMEN
Overall
1 Samantha Oosthuizen (Garmin DCM) 04:29:40
2 Tania Raats (Fox Maverick) 04:29:44
3 Carla Rowley (MTN Energade) 04:42:50
4 Landy Puddu 04:53:22
5 Caitlin de Wet (Red Mongoose) 05:00:04
Junior
1 Caitlin de Wet (Red Mongoose) 05:00:04
Sub-veteran
1 Landy Puddu 04:53:22
2 Carla Barton 05:30:07
Veteran
1 Natascha Mowat 05:19:25
2 Sarah van Heerden 05:28:50
3 Michelle Muller 05:30:13
37km Half-marathon presented by Ferdevco
Leading results
Men
1 Bryce Munro (DCM Chrome) 02:02:09
2 Merlyn Jackson 02:06:11
3 Luke Roberts 02:07:16
Women
1 Emily Clarke 02:30:40
2 Mylene Lomeau 02:41:26
3 Bridget Ringdahl 02:42:27
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