Joubert dominates 80km Extreme MTB race on 'home' trails

Gqeberha's Marco Joubert (right) and defending champion Yolande de Villiers celebrate dominant victories in the 80km Extreme MTB Race at The Herald Cycle Tour in Addo yesterday. Photo: Richard Pearce

Professional mountain biker Marco Joubert says his preparations for the Cape Epic are well on track after he claimed the 2022 Herald Cycle Tour mountain bike title in Addo on Sunday morning.

Joubert, who placed third in 2020, finished in three hours, one minute and 39 seconds, almost 20 minutes ahead of Rogan Smart (3:20.48), with Matthew Leppan (3:24.29) claiming the final podium spot.

In the women's race, Yolande de Villiers rode a near-perfect race, coming home in 3:29.13 to successfully defend the title she had won in 2020.

She was followed by 2020 runner-up Anriette Schoeman (3:46.44) and Mandi Augustyn (3:50.05).

The King and Queen of the Mountain titles went to Joubert and De Villiers, pocketing an additional R1 000 to go with their R4 000 winners' prizes.

Joubert said while he'd a challenging start in the 80km Extreme race at The Herald Cycle Tour, hosted by Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, things had got a bit lonely near the end.

"Pulling off the win in front of my home crowd is always special," he said.

"It is always nice being here in Addo because this is pretty much where I started my cycling career on the Hayterdale Trails.

"I am feeling really good, the form is looking good and I think it is a good sign for the next half [preparations for the Cape Epic]."

The Imbuko TypeDev rider said that despite the jostling for positions at the start of the race, once he managed to open up a gap to the rest of the field, it was all about managing his race effectively.

"In the start, especially around the corners, I tried to open up and saw that we had got away, so we rode hard for the next 10 minutes to try to extend the gap.

"I always felt it would be three of us gunning for the top spots.

"I managed to drop them just before the big climb and from there it was solo to the finish," he said.

"I think I took about 400mg of caffeine [during the race] today with the early start, but once I line up for a race it is always about getting into a zone, whether there is competition or not, pushing the body and seeing what you can achieve."

De Villiers, who wore a broad smile as she crossed the line, was happy with her performance in claiming her second The Herald Cycle Tour mountain bike title.

"I am very happy to be back racing on these beautiful trails and I thoroughly enjoyed the day out there," she said.

"It was quite dusty and the pace was quite high in the beginning, so I took to the single track just to keep my own pace.

"The last section was also quite hard, flat going into the finish, but I managed to keep it together and finish strong."

Leading results:

80km

Men: Marco Joubert (3:01.39); Rogan Smart (3: 20.48); Matthew Leppan (3:24.29).

Women: Yolande de Villiers (3:29.13); Anriette Schoeman (3:46.44); Mandi Augustyn (3:50.05).

60km

Men: Victor Olckers (2:14.32); Luthando Fatyi (2:19.36); Richard Wyngaard (2:19.45).

Women: Michelle Howes (2:28.30); Nina Chambers (2:38.16); Lauren Smith (2:45.34).

30km

Men: Rhys Burrell (1:02.01); Craig Townsend (1:02.04); Morne Botha (1:04.57).

Women: Rebecca Jopson (1:08.25), Nicolene Wilkinson (1:10.35); Lara Lotter (1:10.37).