New terrain, new equipment and a little bit of nerves all came together on Saturday morning in Oudtshoorn for #TheHellOfTheSouth. Jacques Janse van Rensburg and Jaco Venter took their first MTB race in their stride, a tough 121km with 2900m ascent. A real baptism of fire, even in the pouring rain.

“I misjudged a line while in the front group and slashed my rear tyre at around the 20km mark. I had to stop multiple times to plug and bomb my wheel but had to put a tube in as the last resort as the leading Women’s bunch flew past me. I was 17 minutes down in 47th position at the second tech zone, and after a wheel change, I spent the rest of the day slowly clawing my way back in no man’s land. I finished 13th, 22 minutes down on Matt Beers’ winning time, so I’m pretty happy with my form at the moment, all things considered.” ~ Jaco Venter

Janse van Rensburg and Venter now look ahead to the first team event of the season, the Momentum Health Tankwa Trek presented by Biogen from 6 – 9 February 2020. This will be the first MTB stage race for the pairing to put their last 8 years of experience, partnership and tactics into use.