De Groot, Marais take Herald Cycle Tour honours in Addo
WINNING WAYS: Celebrating on the podium after the Herald Cycle Tour 80km Extreme women's race are, from left, second-place finisher Sabine Spitz, winner Robyn de Groot and Nicola Clayton, who crossed the line in third. Image: Richard Pearce
Johanneburg’s Robyn De Groot successfully defended her 80km title in the Herald Cycle Tour mountain bike event, fuelled by Astron Energy and made possible by Telkom, at the Addo Polo Club on Sunday morning.
De Groot, 42 crossed the finish line in three hours, 31 minutes and 57 seconds, shredding just over eight minutes off her 2024 finishing time of 3:40:03.
Sabine Spitz went one better than her third place of last year in a time of 3:53:49, while Nicola Clayton took the remaining place on the podium in 4:28:00.
Though happy to have defended her title, De Groot said she would like to have seen greater women’s participation in the main event.
“The trails and the route are fantastic, the weather played along and I had no problems this year, so it was really a cool race,” De Groot said.
“I truly enjoyed the course. These mountain bike events are nice and long, so it’s good — a nice single track and some nice climbing, so we had a bit of everything.
“This year I had no mechanical problems: it was smooth sailing.
“I do not really count wins or anything, but it’s always nice to come into a well-organised event.
“I would to see more women participate in the 80km.
“I was thinking about it when I was riding in. It’s not a massive challenge but it’s a big enough challenge.
“It is definitely doable, so it would be nice to see more women doing the 80km.”
In the men’s 80km race it was Stuart Marais who sailed through comfortably to the finish line in first place in 3:12:38.
He was followed by Lourens Spies (3:21:50) in second, with Stegmann van Zyl taking bronze in 3:21:51.
“I do the HCT every year. I am from here, so these trails are my backyard and I am excited to come back every year,” Marais said.
“The race was really nice. It was a great route and a nice cool day compared to the last couple of days when we had a heatwave.
“We were fortunate to have very cool weather and a great route, a lot of single tracks and great climbs.
“It was a great day. The route was marked pretty well. The water points were well stocked and I did not have any mechanical issues, so I could just enjoy the ride,” Marais said.
He said his race plan had been to go in hard from the outset.
“I planned to go strongly from the start. Where it rolls out is pretty flat, so we usually ride in big groups. As soon as we rode into the single tracks I made quite an effort to split the crew up and we did that.
“The three of us climbed nicely up the pass together and when we got to the top of the pass, I put in another effort to go away alone, and from there I rode nicely to the finish.
“It is always lovely to win, and it’s especially nice to win when you are at home on your home trails.
“I’ll have to come back next year and defend it.”