21/11/2011
Stopforth and Williamson continue their winning streak
Team bizhub’s Ishen Stopforth and Catherine Williamson once again proved to be unbeatable at the Contego Wine2whales stage race.
After two days of racing, covering a distance of 135km Catherine Williamson and Ischen Stopforth of team bizhub secured the 2011 Contego Wine2wales title. Having recently won the Cape Pioneer the two bizhub ladies were the outright favorites going into the tour.
“It was great to be racing with Catherine again,” said Ischen after the race. The two Contego girls gave us a good run for their money on stage two, but having built up almost a 20 minute lead on the first stage we knew we had a comfortable margin”
“Having stage three cancelled due to the extreme weather conditions was a letdown to us” commented Catherine “But I think in hindsight rider safety is of first importance and the organizers made the right decision, had someone crashed there would have been difficulties for medical support staff to reach the riders on route.
With Stage one starting from the beautiful Lourensford Wine Estate, the two bizhub girls got down to the business of racing.“It was a really fast start, continued Catherine, especially as we were straight into a 10km climb and I desperately had to hang on to keep the two Contego girls in sight. We were also closely followed by the DEVELOP pair of Yolandi du Toit and Caitlin de Wet.
We caught the Contego pair after the first feed station on one of the tough climbs, which were more to our liking. With some technical but not life threatening tracks we finished shattered but happy and even happier after the Contego girls didn’t come in for 19 minutes, just in front of the Develop team of Yolandi and Catlin. The campsite in Grabouw Country Club was idyllic, very much like the Lake District at home and a cool breeze that made it comfortable to chill out in.”
“With little climbing and 60% single track Ischen and I both knew stage two would be a hard one to win. We were also racing blind in that we were the only girls in A batch. That was nice in a way, as with 19 minutes lead we knew the other girls would have to catch us and still put 10 minutes into us. The course was amazing, so much flowing single track it was one of those days that you smile and ride! Ischen had a couple of small falls but nothing serious and we finished 6 minutes ahead of the Contego girls who took the stage with us in 2nd place, our lead now 16 minutes. Yolandi and Caitlin from DEVELOP came in 4th, Yolandi been chased as usual by the male species, this time a young buck”
“On Day three we woke up feeling like drowned rats” said Ishen after stage three was cancelled. It was only 8 degrees with rain and some snow on the mountains. An hour later the stage was called off.
At first we were relieved but soon hugely disappointed. The route I remember from last year was the most scenic yet and the last mountain bike race of the year ended up as a hollow victory, though I’ve got to say 8 degrees and raining would not have made for a very pleasant day. Despite the disappointment it was a great tour, we could not have asked for a better ending to the 2011 MTB Season”.
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