There was some nervous energy around the breakfast tables this morning, with 125km looming ahead making day 3 the longest day distance wise of the entire JoBerg2c. And to make things a little worse, it was freezing in Reitz, proper freezing. Another mass start again saw us following a huge Massey Ferguson tractor for a 8km’s of neutral riding until the racing started. I had made a conscious decision to start slower and have a fairly chilled day.

Last year’s surprise winners Neil MacDonald and Waylon Woolcock will be out to silence their critics at the Old Mutual joBerg2c mountain bike race, which starts at Heidelberg in Gauteng on Friday.

The former road cyclists are determined to prove that their victory in the second edition of South Africa’s longest paired stage race was no flash in the pan.

This year, the Team RE-CM riders will be up against a formidable field that includes the likes of Kevin Evans and David George (Nedbank 360Life), Brandon Stewart and Jacques Rossouw (FedGroup Itec-Connect) as well as Gawie Combrinck and Nico Bell (Transact).

Returning mountain bike champion Brandon Stewart and team-mate Jacques Rossouw are set to resume their ongoing battle with Kevin Evans and David George at The Herald VW Cycle Tour in Addo just outside Port Elizabeth on Saturday, February 4.

Riding in the colours of Team FedGroup-Itec Connect, former South African cross-country champions Stewart and Rossouw are raring to go against the Nedbank 360Life pair.

During the past few years, pro-elite mountain-bike racing in South Africa was dominated by only a handful of riders.

Burry Stander, Kevin Evans, David George, Max Knox and Philip Buys won about 90% of the major races among them.

However, this domination seems to be about to end.

Philip Buys (Garmin-adidas) got snookered by a cramp in the deciding moments of the Illovo Eston Marathon (60km) in KwaZulu-Natal on Sunday (7 August).

As a result he finished second behind Brandon Stewart (Itec Connect). Burry Stander (Specialized) finished third.

Buys was not despondent because of the result.

“Brandon deserved to win. He was the most aggressive rider throughout the race and I had to play catch-up most of the time.

Neil MacDonald and Waylon Woolcock capped a memorable nine days with overall victory in the second Fairbairn Capital/Old Mutual joBerg2c that finished on the beach in Scottburgh, KwaZulu-Natal, on Saturday.

The RE:CM duo won six of the nine stages on the 911-kilometre trek from Heidelberg in Johannesburg to record a total time of 34:20:18.

Overall leaders Brandon Stewart and Darren Lill survived yet more body blows to remain ahead on points after round seven of the Fairbairn Capital/Old Mutual joBerg2c that finished at Mackenzie Club in Ixopo, KwaZulu-Natal, on Thursday.

“This bike race is like getting into the ring with Mike Tyson,” said FedGroup Berg and Bush’s Stewart after he and his partner finished second on the 87-kilometre trek from Underberg.