Miller, Looser star at Tankwa Trek 

Alex Miller and Vera Looser excelled at the Momentum Medical Scheme Tankwa Trek, one of South Africa’s premier mountain bike stage races over the weekend, with Miller winning the men’s elite category and Looser coming third in the women’s elite category. 

Racing against some of the world’s top MTB riders in the Koue Bokkeveld mountain range in the Western Cape, Miller and his South African partner Matthew Beers comfortably won the four-stage race in an overall time of 10 hours 29 minutes and 17 seconds, to finish more than four minutes ahead of Wessel Botha and Marco Joubert of South Africa (10:33:24), while Axel Roudil-Cortinat of France and Simon Schneller of Germany came third in 10:40:41. 

Miller and Beers, riding for the Toyota Specialized team took the lead from the start, winning the first stage over 26km on 8 February in 51 minutes 53 seconds, while Gunnar Holmgren of Canada and Martin Blums of Latvia, riding for the KMC Ridley team, came second, 37 seconds behind. 

That gave Miller and Beers the leaders’ yellow jerseys and they held on to it till the end as they gradually stretched their lead. 

On 9 February they won the 88km Stage 2, with climbs of 1 700m, in 3:21:52, with Botha and Joubert of the Imbuko Pro Cycling team finishing second more than a minute behind, while Blums and Holgren came third, more than three minutes behind.

Stage 3 on 10 February, also known as the ‘Merino Monster’ over 96km with 2 200m climbs, saw a fierce battle between Miller and Beers and Botha and Joubert, as they raced neck-and-neck till the end, with Miller and Beers just pipping the South African pair by a second to the line. 

That put Miller and Beers well clear of the rest of the field heading into the final stage over 57km with 940m climbs on 11 February. Blums and Holgren won the stage in 2:14:44, but Miller and Beers, who followed just four seconds behind, were never threatened as they comfortably won the overall title.

It was the first time in four appearances that the 23-year-old Miller had won the title and he was full of praise for the organisers after the race. 

“This was my fourth Momentum Medical Scheme Tankwa Trek, presented by Biogen,” Miller smiled. “It was definitely my best one yet; it was great racing with Matt [Beers] and taking the victory. I love racing here; the trails are incredible and everyone – from Momentum and Dryland – to the route marshals go the extra mile for the riders. We really appreciate it!” he said. 

Beers, meanwhile, praised their competitors after the race. 

“It’s great to see the standard of South African mountain biking levelling up every year,” he said. 

In the Elite Women’s Race, Looser and her South African partner Danielle Strydom came third in an overall time of 13 hours 2 minutes and 42 seconds. That was more than 18 minutes behind the winners, Mona Mitterwallner of Austria and Candice Lill of South Africa, whose overall time was 12 hours 43 minutes 11 seconds, while Janika Loiv from Estonia and Jana Belomoina of Ukraine came second nearly 10 minutes behind. 

Looser and Strydom got off to a strong start, finishing second on the opening stage, just over a minute behind Lill and Mitterwallner. They, however, lost a lot of time on Stage 2, finishing more than six minutes behind Lill and Mitterwallner, and more than a minute behind Loiv and Belomonia who moved up to second overall. 

Loiv and Belomonia went on to win the third stage, finishing five seconds ahead of Lill and Mitterwallner, while Looser and Strydom dropped further behind, while Lill and Mitterwallner won the final stage by more than two minutes to complete an emphatic victory.