\nlast stage is easily underestimated, but it\u2019s still pretty tough.\u201d
\nImbuko Giant B\u2019s Pieter du Toit and Koen were second over the line, out kicking Arno du Toit and
\nBontekoning, whom they had shadowed for the final 20 kilometres. Heyns and Nortje finished
\nfourth, 7 minutes and 2 seconds down on the stage winners. Chesterton and Von During were fifth.
\nThe result ensures that Imbuko Giant A go into the final stage with a 7 minute and 32 second lead
\nover Valley Electrical Toyota, with Insect Science a further 27 seconds back. The likely battle on the
\nfinal day will thus be for second, while fourth and fifth are also set to be a close-run thing. Following
\nthe Queen Stage Imbuko Giant B are just 3 minutes and 3 seconds behind Trek SA in forth.
\nIn the UCI women\u2019s race Kim le Court and Samantha Sanders continued their imperious form. The
\nEfficient Infiniti Insure combination established an early advantage which they built to 14 minutes
\nand 44 seconds by the summit of the Swartberg Pass. \u201cIt\u2019s very pretty up here,\u201d Le Court smiled from
\nDie Top. \u201cIt was so cold up here last year, so it\u2019s nice to be here in better weather. The climb is
\nalways hard, but the views are always worth it!\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.runridedive.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/2-1024x683.jpg\")
Le Court\u2019s assessment was echoed by Hayley Smith, after she and Sarah Hill crossed the line in
\nsecond position. \u201cIt\u2019s probably the hardest climb I\u2019ve ever done!\u201d the Vivovita-Bell rider laughed.
\n\u201cBut I loved every moment of it, the views were amazing and it really is something special.\u201d
\nBehind the Efficient Infiniti Insure and Vivovita-Bell teams the battle for third came down to the final
\nkilometres of the Swartberg Pass. Despite suffering from her fall, two days before, Karla Stumpf
\nsurged ahead with Kelsey van Schoor having spent the stage racing against Ila Stow and Robyn
\nWilliams once again. The Biogen team\u2019s efforts were enough to see them add another 2 and a half
\nminutes to their general classification buffer to the Bike Park Uitsig – SCR Academy squad.
\nGoing into the final day of the 2023 race Le Court and Sanders lead by 1 hour, 6 minutes and 9
\nseconds over Hill and Smith. Van Schoor and Stumpf are third at 2 hours, 3 minutes and 21 seconds
\noff the pace. Vitally they hold a 13 minute and 49 buffer to Stow and Williams, who are themselves
\n50 minutes up on Tarryn Povey and Sanchia Malan.
\nThe final stage of the race takes the teams from Langenhoven Gimnasium into Chandelier Game
\nLodge\u2019s private nature reserve. Famed as the start of the brutal Momentum Medical Scheme
\nAttakwas Extreme, presented by Biogen, the reserve provides kilometres of rocky tracks and trails
\naccounting for all of the day\u2019s 1\u00a0200 metres of climbing. Stage 6 is, as Joubert suggested, not to be
\nunderestimated however. In 2022 both leading teams suffered punctures and nervous rides home to
\nthe Queens Hotel in the centre of Oudtshoorn.<\/p>\n
Header Image: Wessel Botha (foreground) and Marco Joubert, of Imbuko Giant A, won the Queen Stage <\/em>of the 2023 Momentum Medical Scheme Cape Pioneer Trek, presented by Biogen, in <\/em>emphatic fashion atop the Swartberg Pass on Friday. Photo by Oakpics.com.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"