TIB on the Podium Again

Undoubtedly Cowen House is one of the favorites on the racing calendar for many true knobbly tire lovers. The Cowen House MTB classic never seems to disappoint the racing fraternity and gets bigger and bigger every year. This year Wildlands, the new event organizers, limited the entries to 1000 riders thereby offering the attendees the opportunity to become a select few to enjoy the amazing single track unabated. But as with every year, the single track was the talking point.

The route itself as with the previous years has always been particularly technical with few recovery points along the 75% if not majority single track route.

The wet weather which had been threatening for the previous couple of days unfortunately arrived at the start and this combined with the overnight rain provided a completely new dimension to the race. The mud up front was to play a huge part with the result with particular notice being made that the members of the 29er brigade were to have a definite advantage over the 26er racers. The bigger platform and larger footprint made the tortuous conditions bearable.

The race kicked off with a neutral rolling start which allowed the riders a safe passage over the main road without any racing excitement getting in the way of safety. As the flag went down the racing was off with Brandon Stewart (ITcontect), the TIB athlete Andrew Hill and Brendon Davies of team Sho Air specialized Racing making the first move off the front. The pace was high and as a result Davies slid out in the slippery conditions. This mistake split the chasers from the leader Stewart and causing a slight gap to form. The chasing group of Hill and Davies were joined by The BMC and Mr Price riders of Andrew Warr and Sean Merridew. The group split with Merridew Hill and Davies making a break from Warr on their 29er bikes in the mud.

Tragedy stuck the Specialized rider when he sliced a tire 500meters from the King of the mountain climb point. This left the pair of Hill and Merridew to chase the on form Stewart fresh from his win at Illovo Eston the week before. Merridew had also claimed a win in the past 2weeks, notably the prestigious Imana Wildride with his talented team mate Tyron White and was looking a putting another podium on his lengthy résumé.

The tight technical nature suited Hill but he couldn’t shake the tenaciously strong Merridew. It was only with 5km to go that hill continuing to increase his effort on a high tempo climb and broke away from Merridew. This left Hill to the formality of crossing the line behind Brandon Stewart to claim 2^nd place just 1min ahead of Merridew in 3^rd.

Final results

Brandon Stewart (itconect)

Andrew Hill (TIB Insurance)

Sean Merridew (Mr Price)