Top South African XTERRA Warriors Dan Hugo and Carla Van Huyssteen claimed victory in the men’s and women’s categories respectively of the Totalsports XTERRA Buffelspoort Full presented by REHIDRAT® SPORT on Saturday, 25 January 2014. Hugo completed this much loved off-road triathlon in a combined time of 02 hours 31 minutes, while Van Huyssteen’s winning time was 02 hours 58 minutes 02 seconds.
According to Hugo it was a weekend of firsts. “I’ve been sponsored by Specialized for seven years now. It is really special having them as the official bike partner of the Totalsports XTERRA. I am also thankful to Totalsports and REHIDRAT® who are both my sponsors as well as the event sponsors. I’m always positive when I’ve had a good swim. There were surprises on both the mountain bike and trail run course. These surprises always lend themselves towards character building. Hendrico Burger and his route building team are sneaky that way. With Flora (Duffy) being here I look at the event from a tourist’s perspective, and we definitely got a true African Experience today,” said Hugo. Nico Sterk came in second, while Bradley Weiss finished third.
Four-time XTERRA World Champion, Conrad Stoltz was forced to withdraw due to mechanical issues. “I’m really disappointed. XTERRA Buffelspoort is such a special event and I really wanted to race well. Although my bike suffered a sidewall puncture, I managed to plug it and was confident I could still pull off a win as I was feeling good. But this being what I call the ‘Africa kind of course’ I soon picked up another puncture and knew that it was just a matter of time before my bike had another flat. Unfortunately I’d run out of air and was unable to fix it. I’ve had flats before and I’ve won races, I’ve broken a chain before and I’ve won races. I’m always up for a challenge. Going into the Totalsports XTERRA Grabouw in February, I will just give my best,” says Stoltz.
“I was so nervous coming into this event,” said ladies winner Carla Van Huyssteen. “I actually felt nauseous and couldn’t help but laugh at myself. When I got to the swim discipline I told myself to relax. XTERRA is so much fun, no matter what happens whether I place first or last, I was just going to have fun. The altitude was definitely in my favour. In Pietermaritsburg I’ve been focussing on power building through hill training. I really wanted to be the first South African girl across the finish line today. I saw that Flora (Duffy) was suffering on the bike, so I decided to push really hard even if I ended up breaking myself. It really is special winning in South Africa. The support is extra special,” said Van Huyssteen. Flora Duffy came in second, while Nicolette Griffioen finished third.
In the XTERRA LITE event Ruan Van Zyl and Carmen Bassingthwaighte were the individual men’s and women’s winners at the 2014 TOTALSPORTS XTERRA Buffelspoort LITE presented by REHIDRAT® SPORT on Sunday, 26 January 2014. Van Zyl claimed victory in 01 hour 20 minutes 27 seconds, while Bassingthwaighte’s winning time was 01 hour 47 minutes 22 seconds.
According to Van Zyl, he really enjoyed the route. “Today was fun, but warm. I had a good swim, even though the water was choppy. The cycle was awesome, awesome fun. Although I’m actually a mountain biker, I enjoyed the swim the most. I lead from the start, so I didn’t have to worry about catching anyone, but I did have to worry about people catching me. I will definitely be back next year,” said Van Zyl. Michael Ferreira came in second, while Jeffrey Neethling finished third.
“This was my first triathlon ever,” said a very excited Bassingthwaighte. “I’m not that good a swimmer and literally only swim breaststroke. I really enjoyed the mountain bike discipline, especially the downhill. This is where I made up on time. On the run I literally focused on keeping up my lead. The event is great, from the organisation to the trails and the commentators”. Yzette Oelofse came in second, while Denine Van Heerden finished third.
Coming up Next: Taking the form of the South African Championship, TOTALSPORTS XTERRA Grabouw forms part of the XTERRA World Tour. Athletes competing at this event stand the chance to qualify for the world championship final in Hawaii later in the year. The event runs from the 21st to the 23rd of February at the Grabouw Country Club.
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For further information on the TOTALSPORTS XTERRA Buffelspoort presented by REHIDRAT® SPORT please contact Stillwater Sport & Entertainment on 086 138 3591, email entries@stillwatersports.com or visit www.stillwatersports.com.
