{"id":8930,"date":"2020-02-10T07:36:37","date_gmt":"2020-02-10T05:36:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/?p=8930"},"modified":"2020-02-10T07:36:38","modified_gmt":"2020-02-10T05:36:38","slug":"bulls-heroes-and-faces-cst-storm-to-2020-tankwa-trek-titles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/bulls-heroes-and-faces-cst-storm-to-2020-tankwa-trek-titles\/","title":{"rendered":"Bulls Heroes and Faces CST Storm to 2020 Tankwa Trek Titles"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The Momentum Medical Scheme Tankwa Trek presented by Biogen\nsaved the best for last. Both in terms of the trails and the result for the\nchampions, the Bulls Heroes and Faces CST. The men\u2019s yellow jersey wearers\nfurther secured their grip on the First Ascent leaders\u2019 jerseys by racing to\nthird on the day; behind their support team and the stage winners, Cannondale\nFactory Racing. While the women\u2019s race winners secured victory the hard way,\nwinning the stage in fine fashion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mariske Strauss and Candice Lill started the day 37 seconds behind the overnight leaders, Jennie Stenerhag and Nadine Rieder. The Faces CST team thus had to go on the offensive early on. After pushing the pace in the first singletrack they made the race winning break in the famous Houdenbek trails. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe width=\"100%\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/EIqelyX-tus\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe pushed hard to get into the Houdenbek singletracks\nfirst\u201d Lill explained. \u201cThen we could control the pace and rely upon our\ncross-country punch and skills to get a gap on the rest of the women\u2019s field. At\nthe second water point Darren [Lill] told us we had a 50 second lead. The next\ntime we saw him it was two minutes. But we just kept pushing, because I\nremembered puncturing in the last 10 kilometres of the stage, here, in 2018.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Faces CST\u2019s stage win \u2013 in a time of 3 hours, 25 minutes and 32 seconds \u2013 was enough to secure them the overall victory by 2 minutes and 14 seconds. \u201cTaking the win is really important\u201d Lill continued. \u201cIt secures us both a good few UCI points which will help towards our Olympic qualification bid. Part of the plan behind Mariske [Strauss] and myself teaming up was to work towards securing two Olympic slots for South Africa.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Stage-3-Tankwa-Trek-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8933\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Stage-3-Tankwa-Trek-2.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Stage-3-Tankwa-Trek-2-900x600.jpg 900w, https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Stage-3-Tankwa-Trek-2-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Stage-3-Tankwa-Trek-2-800x533.jpg 800w, https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Stage-3-Tankwa-Trek-2-930x620.jpg 930w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption>Henrique Avancini and Manuel Fumic won the final stage to end their race on a high, for Cannondale Factory Racing. Photo by ZC Marketing Consulting.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Jennie Stenerhag and Nadine Rieder had to be content with\nsecond position on the stage and on the final general classification standings.\nThey would reflect on untimely punctures, which ultimately cost them dearly on\nStages 1 and 3. \u201cMariske and Candice were the strongest riders today\u201d Stenerhag\ngraciously allowed. \u201cThey are deserved winners.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Robyn de Groot and Adelheid Morath finished third on the\nstage and rounded out the final overall podium. \u201cOnce we saw that we could not\ncatch Faces CST or Fairtree, today, we slacked off\u201d De Groot recounted. \u201cThe\nseason is long and while we learnt a lot from the Momentum Medical Scheme\nTankwa Trek presented by Biogen we recognised that our energy could be better\nspent later in the year.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the UCI men\u2019s race, as on Stage 3, there were two battles\nunfolding simultaneously. The first was for the stage honours. Which were\nclaimed, in dominant fashion by Cannondale Factory Racing\u2019s Manuel Fumic and\nHenrique Avancini. The German\/Brazilian combination blitzed the course in a\ntime of 3 hours and 26 seconds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The second was for the overall title. That battle once again\nfeatured a strong supporting cast performance from the Bulls Youngsters. Martin\nFrey and Simon Schneller were able to hold Urs Huber and Simon Stiebjahn\u2019s\nwheels when the Bulls Heroes attacked. Working together the quartet were never\nat risk of being caught once they had distanced the CST PostNL Bafang team, of\nSebastian Fini and David Nordemann. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cTwo minutes is not a big advantage\u201d Huber conceded. \u201cSo, we\ndecided to race the final stage as if it was any other. It is better to attack\nthan to defend. We were able to get away from CST PostNL Bafang on a climb in\nthe Houdenbek singletracks. The Youngsters were able to come with us and really\nhelped in the sections between the singletracks.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt was great crossing the line with them too\u201d Huber added,\nreflecting on finishing alongside Stiebjahn, Schneller and Frey. \u201cFor the whole\nteam it was a fantastic moment. It is great to start the season with a win and\nit will give us lots of confidence for the races to come.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Finishing third on the stage \u2013 but ahead of Fini and\nNordemann, who finished fifth \u2013 was enough to extend the Bulls Heroes\u2019 margin\nof victory to 3 minutes and 32 seconds. CST PostNL Bafang retained their second\nplace overall. While Tristan de Lange, who survived a horror crash on the final\nstage, completed the overall podium alongside Alexander Miller, for DANSTE\/Megatech.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Results | <a>Momentum Medical Scheme\nTankwa Trek presented by Biogen <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Stage 4 | Men:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol><li>Cannondale Factory Racing 1: Manuel Fumic &amp;\nHenrique Avancini (03:00:26)<\/li><li>Team Bulls Youngsters: Martin Frey &amp; Simon\nSchneller (3:02:38 | +02:12)<\/li><li>Team Bulls Heroes: Urs Huber &amp; Simon\nStiebjahn (3:02:39 | +02:13)<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Stage 4 | Women:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol><li>Faces CST: Mariske Strauss &amp; Candice Lill (3:25:32)<\/li><li>Fairtree: Jennie Stenerhag &amp; Nadine Rieder (3:28:15\n| +02:43)<\/li><li>dormakaba blue: Robyn de Groot &amp; Adelheid\nMorath (3:34:21 | +08:49)<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><em>General Classification after Stage 4 | Men<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Team Bulls Heroes: Urs Huber &amp; Simon Stiebjahn (11:03:13)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>CST PostNL Bafang: Sebastian Fini &amp; David\nNordemann (11:06:45 | +<a>0<\/a>3:32)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Tristan de Lange &amp; Alexander Miller (11:08:39 | +05:26)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>PYGA EuroSteel: Philip Buys &amp; Matthys Beukes\n(11:17:05 | +13:52)<\/li><li>Devonbosch Stellenbosch: Frans Claes &amp; Soren\nNissen (11:20:22 | +17:09)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em>General Classification after Stage 4 | Women<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Faces CST: Mariske Strauss &amp; Candice Lill (12:47:44)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Fairtree: Jennie Stenerhag &amp; Nadine Rieder (12:49:50 | +02:14)<\/li><li>dormakaba blue: Robyn de Groot &amp; Adelheid Morath (12:56:29 | +08:45)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Devonbosch Vertice GTR: Ariane L\u00fcthi &amp; Lia Schrievers (13:20:09 | +33:25)<\/li><li>GB Cycling Team: Annie Last &amp; Isla Short (13:26:14 | +39:30)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Source: Seamus Allardic<\/em><\/strong><em><strong>e Media <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Momentum Medical Scheme Tankwa Trek presented by Biogen saved the best for last. Both in terms of the trails and the result for the champions, the Bulls Heroes and Faces CST. The men\u2019s yellow jersey wearers further secured their grip on the First Ascent leaders\u2019 jerseys by racing to third on the day; behind&hellip;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/bulls-heroes-and-faces-cst-storm-to-2020-tankwa-trek-titles\/\" class=\"\" rel=\"bookmark\">Read More &raquo;<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Bulls Heroes and Faces CST Storm to 2020 Tankwa Trek Titles<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8932,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":"","wds_primary_category":0},"categories":[59],"tags":[164],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8930"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8930"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8930\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}