Full Sus’s eyes and legs in the 2014 Bridge Cape Pioneer Trek is Diana Carolin (follow her on @di_carolin). Di is racing with Rob Cragg for Craft SA in the Mixed category and she’ll be providing daily updates exclusively for Full Sus throughout the race. Here’s how Stage 3 went for her went:
#MeiringsMagic – 107km with 1 543m of climbing
Today (Stage 3) we set out fast and soon settled into a nice big bunch for about 30kms. Then we hit the sand and unfortunately I came unstuck just long enough to lose them. After water point one the climbing began, up up into the mountainside, followed by a rocky descent down into the valley and across river beds along some singletrack and then through a nice deep river just before water point two.
Rob put on a good show for the cameras and made a huge splash!
We topped up with water and hit the tar road and managed to find a bunch to ride with. Then we turned off onto gravel road again and got hit by the headwind, gusty and howling. It went on and one and on, until I could feel all the energy draining from my body. It took sheer determination not to get left behind by the bunch.
At last we changed direction a bit and hit some climbs and a relieving long, fast descent. Relief! Before we knew it we water point three was ahead and I knew the fun was about to begin. After a short steady climb we started descending down the singletrack to the road through Meiringspoort. The singletrack was spectacular and as always lots of fun. It helped give me enough of a mental lift to get to the finish. We hit the tar and Rob took over, the roading in him kicked in and we flew along with three other guys all the way to the finish.
All in all it was a good day today.
Stage 4: KammanasieKanon – 109km with 2 690m ascent
From De Rust to George via the Kammanasie Mountains the 109km trek is sure to test the 2014 Bridge Cape Pioneer Trek riders’ resolve. Last year saw torrential rain play havoc with the field… rain is predicted for Stage 4 this year too. It should make for interesting riding.
Scott turn on the #MeiringsMagic
The Scott Factory Racing team of Philip Buys and Matthys Beukes might have surprised the on lookers slightly with their powerful performance to win the big prize on Stage 2 out gunning the bounty hunting Asrin and the big names of Team Bulls. Today they proved it wasn’t a flash in the pan, again out thinking and out riding their rivals.
Stage 4 could prove crucial for the Scott riders because as Team RECM showed on Stage 3, early breakaways are now the only way to bridge the big time gaps. With the absence of headwinds and with lots of climbing early in the stage, the #KammanasieKanon could be where the Bulls or the Spanish ES MTB.Com team launch their attack.
In the ladies race another dominant performance by the Cape Brewing Company – Biogen Toyota team of Jennie Stenerhag and Robyn De Groot saw them extend their overall race lead. They now lead Asrin Cycling 2’s Catherine Williamson and Alice Pirard by minutes and the Meerendal Wheeler 1 team by over 40!
GC Results:
Men:
- Scott Factory Racing – 12:12’56”
- Team Bulls – 12:16’23”
- ES MTB.Com – 12:32’29”
Women:
- Cape Brewing Company – Biogen Toyota – 14:02’49”
- Asrin Cycling 2 – 14:16’36”
- Meerendal Wheeler 1 – 14:43’34”
Mixed:
- Firebike Tomotion By Blacktusk – 14:09’59”
- Klein Karoo Mixed – 14:20’51”
- L G E – Midas – Bells Cycling – 14:50’46”
Download the full GC results here.
Tweet of the Day:
Get Social
Follow the following for all the Bridge Cape Pioneer Trek updates:
@FullSussa – Us (we’ll retweet the rest)
@bridgeCPT – The official race twitter handle (Run by @OliverMunnik for 2014)
@di_carolin – Racing for Craft SA and providing you with daily updates via Full Sus
@Team_RECM – RECM team manager, Kandice Buys, provides the best info from within the race
@TeamBulls – the UCI pro team and prolific tweeters
@Geralddekock – The voice of cycling
@oakpics – Full Sus’s photographic partners and a mad-cap bunch of photographers
@bigshotmediasa – The team behind the amazing daily TV productions
@ZoonCronje – Xtreme Media’s sharp shooter and the eye in the sky
@KathCrabbe – GM of songo.info doing her first Cape Pioneer
Catch the Pioneer on TV
| Date | Stage | Channel | Time |
| 15 Oct | Stage 3 | Super Sport 8 | 21:00 |
| 16 Oct | Stage 4 | Super Sport 8 | 21:00 |
| 17 Oct | Stage 5 | Super Sport 8 | 21:00 |
| 18 Oct | Stage 6 | Super Sport 8 | 21:30 |
