Dramatic final stage sees home favourite Matt Beers take the crown and French rider Axelle Dubau-Prevot fight back with a stunning victory
Matt Beers and Axelle Dubau-Prevot took deserved victories at the inaugural Nedbank Gravel Burn event in South Africa on Saturday – crowning seven days of top-class cycling with the honour of becoming the event’s first-ever champions.
The pair, who started the competition by winning the first stage last Sunday, and who had won an incredible seven stages between them throughout the week, proved masters of the gravel as they swept aside all before them.
While Beers (RSA) had led the General Classification since day one and was very much the favourite to complete Stage 7 as the overall winner, Bubau-Prevot (FRA) knew she needed something special to make up the nearly nine minutes she was behind Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (RSA).
However, dreams of a homegrown double win were dashed as the French rider stormed to victory and flew up the overall rankings from fifth to the very top spot.
Fitting finale for the Gravel Burn
Beers finished Stage 7 in second place behind fellow countryman Travis Stedman to secure his overall win. Tristan Nortje, perhaps fittingly for the final day of this event, made it a South African 1-2-3 podium by finishing the stage in third place.
Swiss rider Simon Pellaud, who had been just 33 seconds behind Beers at the start of Saturday’s final leg, ended more than five minutes behind the champion as he admitted that he ‘simply did not have the legs’ to mount a significant challenge.
Beers was delighted: “The Nedbank Gravel Burn definitely lived up to expectations. It was rough and tough, and throughout the week we dealt with everything from wild wind to hail and heat… Stage 6 was neutralised due to the extreme weather, so I am glad we got to race today and finish on a high.
“Everything went right today. It was a really nice route. The weather was good. I had no issues and felt strong from the start, so at the final climb, I was able to attack and roll away from Simon.
“It was such a tight race all week. Simon is such a strong rider, so it was a great battle. I was hurting a little bit in the middle stages when riding at altitude, and he is super strong when riding in those conditions. But as we got closer to the coast, I could feel my power coming back.”
Beers added that he hopes the event goes from strength to strength so that he “can tell people when I am old and fat that I won the very first Nedbank Gravel Burn”.
‘I was just completely dead’
He had said overnight that he anticipated Pellaud to go all out on the stage, but Beers proved to be the stronger rider on the home stretch. Pellaud, competitive all week at the sharp end of the racing, could not find the energy he needed.
“I was just completely dead,” said the Swiss rider. “Today was my worst day on the bike all week. Overall, though, it’s been a great experience. We started in rain, then it was freezing, then hot and windy, then the hail came – but today was a beautiful day to end a great race.
Of the British riders, Alistair Brownlee finished in overall 23rd, having come in 22nd on Stage 7, Tom Pidcock – winner of Stage 5 – ended in 26th after a 21st place finish on Saturday, and Lawrence Carpenter was 24th on the final stage as he finished the week in 30th.
Dubau-Prevot put in a ride of grit and determination after seemingly all but ruling herself out of contention earlier in the week when she lost valuable time needing a puncture repair.
American Melisa Rollins finished second overall, with South African National Gravel Champion Hayley Preen in third. Overnight GC leader Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio, who started Stage 7 with a strong GC lead of more than four minutes over Rollins, eventually finished in fifth overall due to mechanical issues on the day.
Commanding week from Dubau-Prevot
For Dubau-Prevot, the stage and overall win were just rewards after a commanding week on the bike. Earlier in the race, she had relinquished her GC lead to Moolman-Pasio, but after each stage, she had felt stronger and stronger, leaving her very best for the final day of racing.
“I woke up feeling very good today,” said Dubau-Prevot at the finish line at Shamwari Private Game Reserve. “Yesterday – on the neutral stage – I had such a good day on the bike with Melisa (Rollins). We took it easy and made it a fun ride; we stopped at all the Padstal feed zones and really just enjoyed ourselves. So today I think I was in good shape to push.”
She had intended to help Rollins in her GC fight: “I was in two minds this morning. I thought I would help Melisa, but then I started feeling really strong, and I told her that I would attack 70km into the race. At one of the river crossings, Melisa got a puncture. I waited for a while, but it was too long. I rejoined the group, and then it was chaos; more punctures, and Lauren Stephens crashed.
“There was a lot of cow manure on the road, so I told Ashleigh we must now be careful and smart on the course. But then Ashleigh punctured; so I thought, ‘okay, now I must just focus on my own race, and maybe I can make up some time on the GC’.”
Sensing that the overall win might be in her grasp, Dubau-Prevot attacked with 30km to go, riding solo all the way to the finish line to claim the stage ahead of Stephens and the overall title ahead of second-placed Rollins.
“It was a long time alone. But I had already said to Lauren this morning that I was prepared to die on the bike to get the win, so I just put my head down and pedalled. I am so happy to win, especially after what happened on Stage 4 with my puncture. I really thought it was all over, but I rode for myself, and in the end it paid off.”
Stage 7 results and overall standings
Pro Men Stage 7 Results
1 Travis Stedman (Team Toyota Specialized) 3:14:14
2 Matthew Beers (Specialized Off-Road Toyota) +7
3 Tristan Nortje (Imbuko ChemChamp) +15
4 Lukas Pöstlberger (Rose Racing Circle) +1:29
5 Lukas Baum (Orbea x Leatt Speed Company) +2:20
Pro Men General Classification Final
1 Matthew Beers (Specialized Off-Road Toyota) 19:01:03
2 Simon Pellaud (Tudor Pro Cycling) +5:26
3 Hugo Drechou (Numéro31.cc / Pinarello) +8:56
4 Tristan Nortje (Imbuko ChemChamp) +9:27
5 Lukas Baum (Orbea x Leatt Speed Company) +10:41
Pro Women Stage 7 Results
1 Axelle Dubau-Prevot (Numéro 31 par Café du Cycliste/ Pinarello) 3:52:40
2 Lauren Stephens (Aegis Cycling Foundation) +4:37
3 Hayley Preen (ChemChamp Honeycomb 226ers) +4:38
4 Clara Koppenburg (+4:39)
5 Melisa Rollins (Liv Racing Collective) +6:41
Pro Women General Classification Final
1 Axelle Dubau-Prevot (Numéro 31 par Café du Cycliste/ Pinarello) 23:40:55
2 Melisa Rollins (Liv Racing Collective) +2:07
3 Hayley Preen (ChemChamp Honeycomb 226ers) +2:15
4 Lauren Stephens (Aegis Cycling Foundation) +2:44
5 Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (AG Insurance Soudal) +10:41
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 1 report HERE.
Read the Gravel Burn Stage 2 report HERE.
Read the Gravel Burn Stage 3 report HERE.
Read the Gravel Burn Stage 4 report HERE.
Read the Gravel Burn Stage 5 report HERE.
Read the Gravel Burn Stage 6 report HERE.
Read all about the Gravel Burn HERE.
