Stander wins also in Marathon Race

Domenica si è corsa la seconda prova delle Marathon Series in Sudafrica sulla distanza di 105km con oltre 2400m di dislivello. Grande lotta tra i 2 idoli locali, vale a dire Burry Stander e Kevin Evans che si sono dati battaglia su tutto il percorso. E' stato della partita anche Jacques Rossouw, attivato terzo a soli 20" dalla coppa Stander/Evans che si sono giocati la vittoria in volata.
Nella gara femminile vittoria di Ariane Kleinhans davanti ad Emily Clarke e Bianca Grotepass. 

Sunday was the second race of the Marathon Race Series in South Africa over a distance of 105km with over 2400m of ascent. Great fight between the 2 local idols, Burry Stander and Kevin Evans, who battled all the way. Third place for Jacques Rossouw, arrived only 20" from the pairs Stander/Evans who have played the victory in the sprint.
In the women's race victory for Ariane Kleinhans ahead Emily Clarke and Bianca Grotepass.
"I woke up a head cold on Friday, so dosed up on Vitamin C. I think I overdid it though because I cramped towards the end of the race. But I'm happy with my form. I've been doing a lot of high intensity training for cross country racing, so wasn't sure how I'd do over the longer distance," said Stander.
"The first 30km were quite hard and then the course became less challenging for quite some time. I didn't really know the route well and attacked through a flat, rocky section with about 40km to go," said Stander. "But I think everyone was waiting for the real climbs to start another 10km later." - "Kevin and I were very even on the day and while I didn't know most of the route too well, I was familiar with the last 10km. Being mostly downhill and flat I knew I wouldn't be able to get away from him, so I banked on taking it to the sprint. I've beaten him a few times in sprints so was quite confident I could do it again.
"We weren't going flat out in the last 10km and that allowed Jacques to close the gap. I am not contesting the Marathon National Series this year, but Kevin is and it was in his interest to ensure Jacques didn't catch us, so he led the sprint out and I came around him at just the right moment," said Stander.

Photo: © Zoon Cronje - Fonte cyclingnews