Hank McGregor gambled his race lead to help his friend Wayne
Jacobs before completing a staggering comeback to safeguard his overnight lead
in the 61st Berg River Canoe Marathon on Friday.
Starting the massed group start on Misverstand Dam with a one and a half minute
lead over the dogged Under 23 Uli Hart, McGregor put down his paddles and opted
to wait for his friend Wayne Jacobs, who had fallen off the front bunch after
taking a swim in a narrow channel on the river.
The enlarged front bunch of Hart and his brother Anders, Simon van Gysen,
Graeme Solomon, Robbie Herreveld and Jeremy Maher moved away at the front
while McGregor erased his entire overnight lead waiting for Jacobs at Moravia
bridge.
Jacobs had stormed back onto McGregor’s slip them work together ferociously to
bridge back onto the front bunch and in a fitting end to a spectacular comeback
Jacobs had the honour of taking the stage line honours.
“Just after the dam wall I managed to get swept under a tree, and before I
knew it I was a foot under, wondering what’s going on with your race,”
said Jacobs.
“We had big plans today to try and pull some positions and time, and then
all of a sudden to start to feel that a top ten is slipping away from you.
“I tried to stay as calm as possible and just out my head down, believing
that my partner Hank was slowing down the pace on the front bunch” he
added.
McGregor said he was happy to forego his race lead because he backed himself to
get back onto the front bunch.
“I’ve got faith in myself,” he said. “It’s not the first time
that I have been put in a position like that and I will come back,” said
the eleven-times Berg champion.
Jacobs still remains three and a half minutes behind third-placed Simon van
Gysen, with the demanding 60 km final stage from Zoutkloof to Velddrif to come
on Saturday.
McGregor took the AQRate hotspot at the Misverstand dam wall portage while Hart
picked up his first hot spot at the Berg River Breweries hotspot at
Moravia.
Veteran former champion Robbie Herreveld and Graeme Solomon worked well
together to consolidate fifth and sixth place ahead of the feisty Jeremy Maher,
with great third stage showing vaulting Anders Hart and Jacques Theron into the
top ten.
In the women’s race Jenna Nisbet showed she has plenty of energy reserves for
the closing stages of the race with a masterful stage that allowed her to
extend her race lead over Nikki Birkett to 21 minutes.
“I wanted to get a good start and I managed to get a good wave across the
dam and stayed with the top guys for the first seven kays,” said Nisbet.
“At the big tree block at about thirty kilometres I took a bit long to get
through it so I had twenty five kays to the end on my own,” she said.
Melanie van Niekerk remains in third, with Tracey Oellerman climbing one place
to fourth ahead of Christy Shrimpton.
The race concludes with the 60 km final stage into the Carinus bridge finish at
Veldddrif, with another mild day forecast before an afternoon frontal system
makes landfall on the West Coast port town.
SUMMARY OF RESULTS
BERG MARATHON STAGE THREE
1. Hank McGregor 5:32:57 13:58:50
2. Uli Hart 5:32:57 14:00:42
3. Simon van Gysen 5:32:56 14:05:06
4. Wayne Jacobs 5:32:556 14:08:53
5. Graeme Solomon 5:35:44 14:17:42
6. Robbie Herreveld 5:35:44 14:17:44
7. Jeremy Maher 5:39:30 14:27:31
8. Heinrich Schloms 5:47:33 14:48:25
9. Anders Hart 5:39:29 14:51:23
10. Jacques Theron 5Z:47:39 14:54:07
WOMEN
1. Jenna Nisbet 6:07:40 15:31:16
2. Nix Birkett 6:23:19 15:52:43
3. Melanie Van Niekerk 6:23:20 16:19:17
4. Tracey Oellermann 6:37:01 16:57:51
5. Christy Shrimpton 6:48:53 17:08:08
More information can be found at www.berg.org.za
