Swakopmund
Team KIA Elite secured the overall 2nd place in the Namib Quest race series, which finished last Friday in Swakopmund.
Represented by Michael Pretorius and youngster Brandon Plaatjes, competing in their first MTB stage race, the men in red and white put up a great showing throughout the six stages with only Team Hollard 2 (Gerhard Mans Jnr and Heiko Redecker) edging ahead of the pair in 1st place.
The KIA team eventually ended the event in 18:53:45 hours, while Team Hollard 2 crossed the finish line in 18:37:29.
The Hollard Riders got off to a great start, finishing the first stage nearly five minutes ahead of the KIA pair.
However, they increased their lead to nine minutes after a near faultless performance during the second day. With their backs against the wall, Pretorius and Plaatjes massed their power during day three to decrease their deficit to less than two minutes.
However, their success was only short-lived as the Team KIA members lost valuable time on day four after having navigation problems. Mans Jr and Redecker took full advantage of the mishap, increasing their lead substantially.
The string of bad luck continued for Pretorius and Plaatjes the next day when the latter suffered a broken chain allowing their rivals to increase the time gap.
A five minutes’ advantage after the last stage was not good enough to catch up with the Hollard team members who comfortably took the win.
Xavier Papo and Tjipe Murangi of Mannies Bike Mecca took 3rd place, while Irene Steyn and Michelle Vorster were the best ladies team adrift in 4th place.