Marathon specialist Ben Melt Swanepoel, and Cross Country specialist Renay Groustra (RSAWEB) have paired up for Sani2c, which kicks off on the 17th May.

Ben Melt, who has raced for the Mazda Merida, Mazda Drifter, MTN, and Specialized SA teams, and also a former winner of the event has high hopes for the 3 day race. “We hope to achieve podium finishes on each stage, and also the overall ranking at the end of the race.” Says Goustra.

Kevin Evans and David George debuted in spectacular fashion at the third annual Old Mutual joBerg2c, taking five stage wins en route to overall victory at Scottburgh main beach on Saturday.

The Nedbank 360Life duo, who won the African leader jersey at the recent Absa Cape Epic, conquered both their rivals and the nine-day, 910km journey from Heidelberg in Gauteng to the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast.

After seven days of racing, the Old Mutual joBerg2c is coming down to a two-horse race between defending champions Neil McDonald and Waylon Woolcock of RE:CM and overall leaders Kevin Evans and David George of Nedbank 360Life.

On Thursday, Evans and George notched up their fourth stage victory as they outsprinted Woolcock and MacDonald after 86km of racing between Hazeldene Farm near Underberg and McKenzie Club in the Ixopo region of KwaZulu-Natal.

Kevin Evans and David George had more than winning on their minds as they extended their already comfortable overall lead to almost nine minutes on day six of the nine-day Old Mutual joBerg2c on Wednesday.

The Nedbank 360Life riders were racing for a greater purpose as they sealed their third stage victory in 3:17:13 on the gruelling 94km route from Glengarry resort in the Kamberg district to Hazeldene Farm near Underberg.

Today’s ride from Kamberg to Underberg was fantastic. It was however brutal, with 2000m of climbing in 93km. My body seems to have recovered from the jippo guts, making the ride today way more fun. The views of the Southern Drakensberg were spectacular today. I really need to come back and explore this area some more one day.

Wow, what an amazing day of riding, one I will not forget for a long time. It was tough, no doubt, 122 km with 2000m of climbing, this after 125 km yesterday. This morning saw some weary riders lining up for what was going to be the longest day of this years Joberg2C. Another mass start in a chilly 7 degrees behind the Massey Ferguson tractor saw us riding 3-4km of neutral zone before the racing started.

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.