Matt Beers and Alex Miller powered into an early lead and never let off the throttle on Stage 1 of the FNB Wines2Whales Shiraz. By the time they reached Oak Valley the Toyota Specialized team had a 4 minute and 29 second advantage over Imbuko and a further 16 seconds on Honeycomb Pro Cycling, who performed remarkably despite Tristan Nortje dislocating his shoulder on Gantouw Pass. 

Friday, 8 November 2024, saw the FNB Wines2Whales racing recommence with the Shiraz event. With a stacked elite men’s field, a competitive Exxaro Jersey competition, age category men’s racing, and the Toyota Mixed category prize up for grabs the tension was palpable on the Lourensford start line. Matt Beers and Alex Miller best converted nervous- to kinetic- energy surging up the first climb and quickly establishing a lead they would then build into a commanding stage winning margin.

The climb to Die Nek, in Lourensford, is an 8 kilometre grind which gains 400 meters in elevation. It is also the longest continual climb of the first stage. Other challenges in the 66 kilometre opening day included the gradual ascent out of Vergelegen, the climb from the Eikenhof Dam to the Waterfall trail, and the famous Gantouw Pass. In total Stage 1 included 1 350 metres of climbing, the most of the race.

“The plan coming into the weekend was to go hard from the gun,” Miller recounted. “I was sick last weekend so I knew I would know quickly if I’d be on or not, today. In hindsight it was probably good for the body to have an enforced rest in the week, because I was feeling really good today.”

The Toyota Specialized team’s early attack, on the climb to Die Nek, was initially followed by Tristan Nortje and Marc Pritzen, but the 2022 winner was forced to stop twice over the first summit. “Today is kind of our season in a microcosm,” Pritzen sighed. “We went over the top with Matt [Beers] and Alex [Miller] but then right at the top my chain dropped, and then again on the descent. Stopping to put it on left us closer to the chasers than to the leaders.”

By water point 1, after 18 kilometres Beers and Miller held a 55 second advantage over the Honeycomb Pro Cycling duo. Imbuko and BUFF MEGAMO were a further 15 seconds back. “Wessel [Botha] set a steady pace on the climb and we didn’t lose much time,” Marco Joubert noted. “But once Toyota Specialized had a gap there was no closing it.”

Over the next 20 kilometres, to the foot of Gantouw Pass, the chase group, which absorbed Nortje and Pritzen, only ceded a further 30 seconds to the leaders. On the compulsory portage the pursuit fell apart. “The portage was absolutely horrible,” Wout Alleman stated with a wry grin. “We had been looking forward to it for a long time and joking about it, but the moment we were there it was horrible.”

Alleman and his BUFF MEGAMO teammate, Hans Becking, only had fitness issues on the pass, as did Joubert. The Belgian champion has only just resumed training after taking an end of season break, while both Becking and Joubert carried injuries which hampered their ability to carry a bike and run, respectively. Nortje’s Gantouw Pass difficulties paled theirs by comparison.

“We were having a good run, then half way up the pass my shoulder dislocated – I don’t know how,” Nortje said. “Probably pulling the bike. Marc [Pritzen] and I then tried to get it back in, but we couldn’t get it back. So, I told him to run on with the bikes and I took another two minutes trying on my own and finally got it in.”

“I stopped to check, and they asked if I could help, but I didn’t want to take the risk of making it worse,” Becking added to the story.

At the front Beers and Miller put the hammer down once they crested the summit and more than doubled their lead in the second half of the stage. By the time they reached the Oak Valley finish line their advantage had grown to 4 minutes and 29 seconds.

“Today is an important stage because you can make good time on the other teams,” Beers stated, when asked about why they went out so aggressively. “Stage 2 is always very fast and closely contested, and the new finish venue looks to have made Stage 3 very tactical too.  That’s why we had to take every opportunity on Stage 1.”

“The race is far from over,” Miller warned. “We will have to work hard over the coming days, race smart, and look after our bikes.”

Behind the day’s victors Honeycomb Pro Cycling were fighting to limit their losses. “After Gantouw [Pass] we pushed really hard to try to catch Marco [Joubert] and Wessel [Botha] again,” Nortje concluded. They were never quite able to reel the men in second in, which allowed Imbuko to claim silver on the stage. Nortje and Pritzen were 16 seconds further adrift in third. Computer Mania Pro MTB’s Daniel van der Walt and Ursin Spescha raced to fourth, overtaking BUFF MEGAMO on the trails. Alleman and Becking had to be content with fifth.

Stage 2 is, as Beers suggested, a fast and punchy stage. The 66 kilometre course features 1 250 metres of climbing and most of Oak Valley and Paul Cluver Wine Estate’s best trails. “It’s a day which suits us well,” Joubert foretold, suggesting that he and Botha would take the fight to Beers, Miller and Co. on Saturday.

To see if the Imbuko team are able to do just that mountain biking fans can follow the action, as it unfolds, by watching the race coverage on social media. Regular updates will be posted to the @wines_2_whales Instagram and Wines2Whales Facebook stories. Post-stage highlight videos will be uploaded to the Epic Series YouTube channel. To find out more visit www.epic-series.com/wines2whales.

2024 FNB Wines2Whales Shiraz Results:

Elite Men’s Stage 1:

1. Toyota Specialized: Matthew Beers & Alexander Miller (2:33:5)
2. Team Imbuko: Marco Joubert & Wessel Botha (2:38:26 | +4:29)
3. Team Honeycomb Pro Cycling: Marc Pritzen & Tristan Nortje (2:38:42 | +4:45)
4. Computer Mania Pro MTB: Daniel van der Walt & Ursin Spescha (2:39:55 | +5:59)
5. BUFF MEGAMO: Wout Alleman & Hans Becking (2:41:24 | +7:28)

For the full results from the 2024 FNB Wines2Whales Shiraz click here.