Pretoria pair wins Waterberg Encounter on debut
“Although we compete regularly in races we came into the event not knowing quite what to expect.”
Pretoria mountain bikers Philip Fourie and Francois Ebersohn led from start to finish to take the honours in their debut appearance at the Liberty Waterberg Encounter over the weekend of 7‑9 June.
The three-day race finished at Sondela Nature Reserve near Bela-Bela after covering trails which also traversed sections of the Elements Private Golf Reserve.
Fourie, who lives in Faerie Glen, and Ebersohn, from Brooklyn, finished Sunday’s stage in 2:05:20 for an overall time of 6:59:30.
They came home in the final stage ahead of André Gibhard and Lionel Scholtz, (2:09:54) and Mark Prince and Michael Minnaar (2:10:05). The latter team were second overall, with Gibhard and Scholtz completing the podium.
Ebersohn said they were able to build a gap on the first day which they maintained throughout the event.
“Although we compete regularly in races we came into the event not knowing quite what to expect,” he said.
“In the first stage on Friday (over 57 km) we were able to get away about halfway through and spent the rest of the race riding by ourselves.
“There were some testing sections because there was some ‘horizontal climbing’ through sections of sand, as well as some rocky areas. But it was a good start and also included some memorable single-track sections.”
He felt the second stage of 46 km stood out the most for them during the weekend, combining as it did great trails with excellent views of wildlife in the Bushveld.
“Day two was absolutely fantastic. It was completely different to day one, with specially built single-track through some very nice kloofs and water features. Add to that the game we saw and it was spectacular.”
Although the 56 km third stage had been billed as largely downhill, Ebersohn said a headwind coming back into Sondela had made it “hard, extremely hard”.
“But we did finish with a 15 km stretch of wonderful single-track, so that made it a great experience.”
Having had a taste of the Waterberg, Fourie said they would definitely be back for more.
“It was very well organised, with excellent food and entertainment and a really nice vibe during the two nights at Elements,” he said. “It is definitely a ride which you will want to do again.”
A special feature of the race, he added, was that it was manageable for riders at all levels.
