South African leads the way with third stage win from four but is closely followed by Swiss rival Simon Pellaud as race hots up
Matt Beers tightened his grip on the Nedbank Gravel Burn championship in South Africa as the hometown hero completed his third win from four stages to protect his lead at the top of the Men’s Pro standings.
The South African cycling star, who has made it clear from day one how much he would love to win on home soil, narrowly edged out his nearest rival, Swiss rider Simon Pellaud, to take the Stage 4 win – but there remains little between the two with three days of riding still to come.
Beers leads Pellaud by a slim 57 seconds, with Germany’s Lukas Baum in third, a full six minutes further behind the leader after struggling with a puncture and finishing Wednesday’s ride in seventh.
Belgian Lawrence Naesen completed the Stage 4 podium after a testing, windy, 111km loop stage through the heart of the Great Karoo plateau in Blaauwater, on the Eastern Cape.
New leader in the Pro Women’s race
There is, however, a new leader at the top of the Pro Women’s General Classification, after Axelle Dubau-Prevot (FRA) finished in seventh, having suffered extensive puncture issues, which allowed South African Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio to take the top spot.
Moolman-Pasio has yet to finish outside the top five places in her four stage rides, improving her overnight position of second by achieving her third podium finish of the race in third spot and moving to the top of the field.
Behind her is Stage 4 winner, Melisa Rollins (USA), who beat South African Hayley Preen into second place on Wednesday’s loop by 20 seconds. Preen’s efforts have seen her move up into third overall, while Dubai-Prevot’s costly issues have seen her drop down to sixth.
The decisive moment of the day came around the 80km mark when Pellaud pulled away from the group, with only Beers able to match him – the pair looking like they will continue their rivalry right through to Saturday and the final stage into the Shamwari Private Game Reserve.
Beers tried to shake off Pellaud at one stage, but the Swiss rider refused to wilt, earning admiration from the South African. However, after a long day battling the windy conditions, it all came down to the home stretch, with Beers’ technical skills proving the difference.
‘He is such a good bike racer’
“Today was neutralised for a lot of the stage because of the headwind,” said Beers. “I also
think a lot of the riders are feeling the altitude, too, because the race was whittled down to a
small group pretty quickly after the start. When the wind changed to a cross-tailwind, the racing started to heat up a little.
“Once we went over the Kom Pass, the highest point in the race, I was drilling it as fast as I could on the downhill because Simon doesn’t really enjoy the descents that much, but he is so strong. He’s such a good bike racer.
“At the top of the final hill, he asked if we were going to roll in safely to the finish; I said ‘no’, so he attacked again. I got back to him and just nuked it past him on the descent; I think we were doing about 80km/h down to the finish. It was quite dangerous, but I don’t think I was going at my maximum. I think the gap was about five seconds, but he was always right there.
“The next three days are going to be long if he keeps riding like that, though. He has World Tour experience; he really knows how to read a race and has exceptional fatigue resistance – he can go so hard so late in the race. It’s unbelievable. He’s a classy rider and guy.”
Pellaud was happy to take second on the day and secure second place in the GC. And riding with Beers at the front has clearly become a two-man Mutual Appreciation Society.
“I am really enjoying racing with Matt,” said Pellaud. “We are having a nice competition out there and racing in a good spirit. It’s very enjoyable. I do think we are the two strongest riders here, so it will be interesting to see what happens from Stage 5 onwards.”
Olympic triathlon champion Alistair Brownlee finished Stage 4 in 31st place, while fellow Team GB Olympian Tom Pidcock completed the leg in 25th. Their General Classification positions are 28th and 30th, respectively.
British rider, Lawrence Carpenter, sits in 32nd place overall after finishing Stage 4 in 28th.
Wind, crashes, punctures and mechanical faults
The Pro Women’s race was one of wind, crashes, minor mechanicals and costly punctures as Rollins eventually claimed what was a hard-fought stage victory, and overnight leader Dubau-Prevot had to wipe away the tears at the finish line after a frustrating day in the saddle.
A disconsolate Dubau-Prevot, said: “I felt really good today. I thought to myself, ‘Okay, I am really flying’. I think everyone knew that. I thought nothing could happen to me today, the way I was feeling. But yes, it happens. I am a bit sad now. I am tired. It was a long day. I punctured at 65km, then had to ride to the end alone, so it was tough out there. I had to keep myself calm and just focus on finishing. It was a terrible day for me.”
Rollins said her strategy had been to go as fast as possible. A tactic that paid off in the end: “I just tried to stay fast but not do anything silly. Today the descents were more decisive than the climbs, so with a downhill finish coming, I decided to try to make a gap there.
“It wasn’t technical, just really fast. Coming into the finish, I was hitting bumps and getting some good airtime. I kept looking back, and Hayley (Preen) was closing in on me, so I was worried I was going to have a repeat of Stage 2, where Axelle overtook me right at the finish. But this time I managed to hold the chase off and rolled over.”
GC leader Moolman-Pasio kept her concentration while all the drama was going on around her to take third place and move ahead of the overall field.
She said: “That was a really eventful day. A small group got away quite early, and we kind of stuck together throughout the day. Today, all the women were working together, so that was fantastic to see and made for great riding. Around the midway point of the race, there was attacking and counterattacking, and that spiced things up a little bit.
“Axelle was really pushing it on the descents – and that’s when she punctured. It’s really unfortunate for her. I have the GC lead now, but it’s not a nice way to do it. She’s been so strong, so it’s very unlucky. Haley Smith also crashed, so a few things were happening out there.”
Of the British riders, Madeleine Nutt finished the stage in 13th (she is 12th overall), Ruth Astle came in 14th (currently 14th overall), and Sophie Wright finished 23rd (currently 22nd in the GC).
Gravel Burn Stage 4 results and overall standings
Pro Men’s Race Stage 4 Results
1 Matthew Beers (Specialized Off-Road – Toyota) 3:12:11
2 Simon Pellaud (Tudor Pro Cycling) +2
3 Lawrence Naesen (Next Level Racing: Rapha – Orbea) +2:44
4 Marco Joubert (Imbuko ChemChamp Specialized) +2:46
5 Hugo Drechou (Numéro31.cc / Pinarello) +2:47
Pro Men’s Race General Classification After Stage 4
1 Matthew Beers (Specialized Off-Road – Toyota) 11:45:31
2 Simon Pellaud (Tudor Pro Cycling) +57
3 Lukas Baum (Orbea x Leatt Speed Company) +6:21
4 Hugo Drechou (Numéro31.cc / Pinarello) +6:41
5 Tristan Nortje (Imbuko ChemChamp) +7:37
Pro Women’s Race Stage 4 Results
1 Melisa Rollins (Liv Racing Collective) 3:59:09
2 Hayley Preen (ChemChamp Honeycomb 226ers) +20
3 Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (AG Insurance Soudal) +29
4 Lauren Stephens (Aegis Cycling Foundation) +38
5 Clara Koppenburg +1:18
Pro Women’s Race General Classification After Stage 4
1 Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (AG Insurance Soudal) 14:37:22
2 Melisa Rollins (Liv Racing Collective) +1:09
3 Hayley Preen (ChemChamp Honeycomb 226ers) +5:01
4 Lauren Stephens (Aegis Cycling Foundation) +7:13
5 Haley Smith (Trek Driftless/ MAAP/ COROS/ The Feed) +7:33
For a full list of all the results, click HERE to go to the Gravel Burn website.
Read the Gravel Burn Stage 1 report HERE.
Read the Gravel Burn Stage 2 report HERE.
Read the Gravel Burn Stage 3 report HERE.
Read all about the Gravel Burn HERE.
