The 2023 Dr Evil Classic showcased Plettenberg Bay\u2019s mountain biking at it very best from Thursday, 21 September, to Saturday, the 23 rd . The three-day stage race\u2019s routes provided exceptional riding throughout, despite rain making Friday\u2019s Stage 2 a muddy affair in places. At the sharp end of proceedings, 19-year-old Aaron Pietersen claimed the general classification victory, while Robyn de Groot made her riding comeback with a win in the solo women\u2019s competition. The most anticipated
\nprize of the weekend was won by Marnus Steyn.
\nWittedrift High School, outside Plettenberg Bay, hosted registration and the start of Stage 1. The school\u2019s pupils gave the riders an exuberant send-off, which set the scene for the rest of the event. With the claps, cheers and singing of the scholars ringing in their ears the Dr Evil Classic competitors took to the trails. Day one saw a mix of dual track, through pastures and into the depths of the Knysna Forest, before the route took on the Petrus-se-Brand singletrack. After classic indigenous forest racing it snaked up Bracken Ridge and into pine plantations. The final kilometres of the stage, to Cairnbrogie, teased with a section of MTO\u2019s incredible trails, which would provide much of the playground for the following two days.<\/p>\n
Stage 2 and 3 began and finished at Cairnbrogie and boasted singletracks aplenty. Enough to satiate the apatite of even the most voracious of devourers of trail. Friday did however feature a wet and muddy start, after overnight rain persisted into the morning. Once the sun came out, around 10:00, the temperatures warmed and the tracks dried. Remarkably the singletracks themselves did not suffer unduly.
\n\u201cYou can see that the trails are incredibly well-built,\u201d race winner, Pietersen praised. \u201cEven on Friday, when the roads were very wet, slippery and muddy, the singletracks were draining perfectly.\u201d Route director, Erik Klootwyk, rerouted the course to avoid the trails that were more likely to become waterlogged or to be damaged by the 350 sets of tyres rolling through them. As a result,
\nSaturday\u2019s final stage was shortened too, removing low-lying sections of Cairnbrogie\u2019s trails. This did not affect the excitement levels however. \u201cStage 3 was an all-out effort,\u201d Pietersen laughed. \u201cJust 25 kilometres of full gas, with lots of great singletracks.\u201d The race winner also added the prize for the fastest ascent of the Alp d\u2019Joe trail, to his haul of three stage victories, on the final day. For this Pietersen was awarded a Switchbag. The talented young rider\u2019s final general classification
\nmargin of victory was 16 minutes, over Stephen du Preez with Conway Oliver a further 3 minutes back.
\nIn the solo women\u2019s competition De Groot was virtually unchallenged. In fact, the multiple South African mountain bike marathon champion was comfortably inside the top ten on all three days, bested only by a handful of men \u2013 some of whom race on eBikes. \u201cI haven\u2019t ridden a mountain bike race since I retired from elite race in May last year,\u201d De Groot explained. \u201cIt was great to get back to taking part, even though I wasn\u2019t focused on racing, again. The trails here in Plett are truly spectacular and living in the Garden Route we\u2019re very spoilt by riding here.\u201d
\nThe participants were also spoilt by Food Lovers Market. After a morning caffeine fix from Seattle Coffee Co, to ensure a high energy start, the water points provided more than enough fuel to get everyone through the stages. Along with the usual sports nutrition stables \u2013 like baby potatoes, jelly babies and bananas \u2013 the aid stations also boasted teats like freshly baked scones and koeksisters.<\/p>\n
After each day\u2019s riding the lunches were healthy and hearty affairs with salads adding a splash of colour to every plate. Not even the delicious food could distract from the real reason the riders had descended on Plettenberg Bay, the trails.
\nDr Evil Classic is undoubtedly the best advertisement for those trails. Bringing mountain bikers from across the country to Plettenberg Bay, since 2012, to see why the town has become a riding Mecca.
\nThe race is also eBike friendly. \u201cNearly half the field were on eBikes this year,\u201d Joggie Prinsloo of SCOTT Sports Africa noted. \u201cIts great to see that growth year-on-year. That\u2019s why we decided to give away a SCOTT Strike eRide.\u201d<\/p>\n
The winner of the bike and the Bosch Fontus 18V cordless leisure cleaner was Steyn. He and nine fellow finalists were selected from a pool of over 800 entries to a social media competition, before he won the lucky draw for the grand prize. All-told the 2023 Dr Evil Classic ensured participants departed Cairnbrogie grinning from ear-to-ear, and just in time too as the region disrupting cut-off low pressure system blew in with more rain as prize giving wrapped up. Timing \u2013 like the MTO, Harkerville and Cairnbrogie singletracks \u2013 it appears could not have been better.<\/p>\n
2023 Dr Evil Classic Results
\nSolo Men
\n1. Aaron Pietersen (6:09:19)
\n2. Stephen du Preez (6:22:26 | +16:07)
\n3. Conway Oliver (6:25:29 | +19:10)
\nSolo Women
\n1. Robyn de Groot (6:22:38
\n2. Marta Jekot (7:28:49 | +1:6:11)
\n3. Emma Pienaar (7:48:50 | +1:26:12)
\nMen\u2019s Teams
\n1. Pure Sausage: Cecil & Jaco Bosman (6:47:32)
\n2. Ride 360: Craig Palm & Steve Sonnekus (7:01:28 | +13:56)
\n3. Marquis Monkey’s: Cayden & Stephen Marquis (7:18:45 | +31:13)
\nWomen\u2019s Teams
\n1. Glover\/ Du Chenne: Monica Glover & Chantal Du Chenne (7:23:39)
\n2. Passion Pedals: Adele Senekal & Wendy Muller (9:39:49 | +2:16:10)
\n3. Team Amazing: Liesl de Koning & Anneri Kemp (11:53:41 | +4:30:02)
\nMixed Teams:
\n1. Bikeshop: Neill Clark & Tracey Campbell (7:27:55)
\n2. The Bike Shop Tribe: Andrea & Andrew Van Blommestein (7:56:44 | +28:49)
\n3. Perx: Riette Prinsloo & Leandro le Roux (8:47:02 | +1:19:07)
\neBike Solo
\n1. Johan Bezuidenhout (5:34:03)
\n2. Tanya McKenzie (5:38:49 | +4:46)
\n3. Terry Ray (6:28:49 | +54:46)
\neBike Teams:
\n1. Knysna Toyota: Lee Esterhuizen & Stuart Lightley (5:29:41)
\n2. Pofadders: Christie Botha & David Louw (6:34:39 | +1:04:58)
\n3. Barley & Hobs: Paul Fouche & Jhandre van der Riet (7:11:51 | 1:42:10)<\/p>\n
photo: The SCOTT Sports Africa prize winners, including Marnus Steyn (front and centre) celebrate winning hampers while Steyn rode away on a new SCOTT Strike eRide. Photo by Oakpics.com.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"