Contego 28E Team’s Sizzling Start to 2012

Strong Start to the Season for Philip Buys, Two Wins for Ariane Kleinhans

Philip Buys from Team Contego/28E started his 2012 season with two strong performances this past weekend.

On Saturday Philip finished second in a sprint finish to Burry Stander at a cross-country race in Fountains, Pretoria.  He followed that up with his first victory of the season in the WP XCO series opener held on the Slammer track at Willowbridge in Durbanville.

According to Philip he was pleasantly surprised by his performance at Fountains: “I usually start good in races, but this time I decided to hold back a bit. On the second lap I got excited though and on the climb Burry and I got away.”

Philip didn't really try to get away from Burry during the rest of the race and the duo battled it out until the finish. “It was important to get into the single track first, but after the climb I was behind Burry and tried to pass him, but he closed the line. He got a gap of about 10 metres and I just couldn't close that gap.”

Being happy with the result, Philip is very excited with the prospect of what is to come if this is how he can start the season.  “I definitely learned something from my battle with Burry. I'm not usually this sharp at the start of the season and there is still a lot of work to be done.  I’m really excited.”

Team Contego 28Es Philip Buys has enjoyed a strong start to the 2012 season. Photo: suppliedIt was a Contego 28E two and three as Philip's teammate Louis-Bresler Knipe finished third.

Sunday's race was held at the same venue where the first event of the SA National XCO series will be held next weekend.  Even though Philip won the challenge, it was a hard battle mixed with some chaos.  

After Saturday’s race he joined his sister for her 21st birthday celebrations and awoke just after 4am to be in time for his flight back to Cape Town.

“I missed a few things when setting up my bike in the rush before the race. That was my fault.”

Philip was in the lead on lap one, but soon found himself in fourth place after some mechanical problems.  With super fast lap times he managed to fight his way back to the front. At the start of the last lap he was only 20 seconds behind the leader Renay Groustra who had a lead of more than 2-minutes at one stage. 

“I didn't like being so far behind on this course where everybody expected me to win. I would have liked to have had a more relaxed race, but I'm happy to have won. Now I'm very tired!”

Nationals will be held in Durbanville on 11^th and 12^th February on the Slammer track. This track is built on historical ground where the old prison was.

Two Races, Two Victories for Ariane Kleinhans

Ariane Kleinhans won the first race of the MTN Marathon series when she crossed the finish line in first place at Barberton, Mpumalanga, over a 75km distance.

Her winning time was 3 hours, 15 minutes.

Candice Neethling and Ischen Stopforth joined Ariane on the winner’s podium.  It was Ariane's second victory in two races after she started the season by defending her Attakwas title successfully.

Ariane Kleinhans has won both the Attakwas Extreme marathon as well as the Barberton marathon in January. Photo: suppliedOn Saturday Ariane got away on the biggest climb of the day and was never seen again.  “The conditions were good, not that muddy. I really like the route; it is great racing in a beautiful area.  I made sure I go first into the jeep track. From there on in I just focused on my own pace. I heard that Candice stayed the longest with me. Riding on the Giant hardtail 29'er was great. I felt strong throughout the race and I'm really happy with my preparation so far for the season.”

This must be one of Ariane's favourite races, as she loves the river crossings and entertaining route. Also the surrounding mountains and green vegetation probably makes her feel like she is back in Switzerland!

Fellow Team Contego/28E-rider (and husband) Erik Kleinhans managed an 11th place after a long hard day in the office. Erik crossed over to the front group on the first climb of the race over 120km. But his troubles started at the second feeding station.

“I got a piece of wood stuck in my derailleur. I had to stop and try and limit the damage. I gave it my all to get back to the leaders and managed to catch up with most of them. I was sixth on top on the climb. On the downhill I cut my tyre though.”  Erik had to stop three times to inflate his tyre.

“I'm happy with how I raced, but I'm disappointed that I could not have finished higher after feeling so good on the day.”