Buys Gets His Maiden MTN Series Win At The Final Event
- MTN Hilton 50 Miler

Race Report : Advendurance Media

Growing up almost all of us heard the classic story at least once of about the race between the turtle and the rabbit.

Philip Buys (Garmin adidas) proved by winning MTN’s 50 Miler on Sunday in Hilton, KwaZulu-Natal that the story maybe not that farfetched after all because his victory meant that Buys also finished 2nd overall in the series.

This surely one of the most amazing comebacks ever in the MTN-series.

Buys started his race campaign as the turtle did in the children’s story, real slow with the emphasis being on slow. He decided not to compete in the MTN-series’ first race in Barberton. Which meant he lost out on the points.

Things did not get much better during the MTN event at Chandelier. Buys reckons he was one of the last riders to cross the finish line which meant again no points while the “rabbits” in the series were raking in the points.

But it did not phase Buys whose motto is once he’s on his mountainbike seems to be – I do it my way. He made it quite clear right at the beginning of the series that he will be riding at his own pace and was not going to be intimidated by his rivals.

In the next three MTN-races – Induna (Hazyview), Dirty Harry (Harrismith), Blockhouse (Meyerton) – Buys started to make his presence felt by finishing well inside the top ten each time. In doing so he started to slowly but surely “pedal” his way through the rankings.

At the MTN Blockhouse most of Buys’s rivals were already starting to complain about the long season and about how tired they were, but not Buys. He was starting to talk about knowing that he has got a few big races left in his legs.

And he was certainly not just making conversation. It was at the MTN Clarens that the turtle (read Buys) first started to show his true colours. Buys absolutely astonished everybody by being the only rider able to ride  the whole way to the top in what was definitely the most daunting and technical climb of the MTN-series. A lack of experience was the only reason he had to settle for the 3rd place.

However the “turtle” was now at full speed while “rabbit” after “rabbit” started to quit racing for the season. The week after the MTN Clarens Buys finished 2nd in the Ride Crater Cruise, followed by another 2nd place finish in the Telkom Satellite. He followed that by winning Mondi Packaging Addo and on Sunday placing the proverbial cherry on the top with his victory in the MTN 50 Miler.

Buys was never under any real pressure during the 50 Miler. His biggest rival was “Mother Nature” who made sure that things really heated up during the race with the temperature soaring to about 35 degrees.

This led to the race-organizers deciding to rather play it safe and were forced to shorten the ultra-marathon to about 75 kilometers.

Buys welcomed their decision because as he said things might have gotten ugly in the last 30 kilometers.

The well known duathlete and adventure racer, Ian Don-Wauchope, finished 2nd with Justice Makhale (MTN-Energade) 3rd, Johnny Kritzinger (Garmin-adidas) 4th and Renier Bellingan (WIN/Karsten Cycles) 5th.

Makhale 3rd  place also deserves a mention. For the last few years he has been one of  the MTN-series’ true ambassadors who has done a lot to create a awareness for mountain biking in the previous disadvantaged communities.

Garmin adidas is certainly the best team of the series  with three riders finishing in the top five overall. Apart from Buys finishing 2nd overall, Theron finished 3rd   overall and Marc Bassingthwaighte 4th.

Kevin Evans (MTN-Energade) is the overall winner.

Riders are now looking towards the 2010 series with the official announcement of the 2010 calendar expected next week. Bernard Pieters, senior sponsorship manager at MTN South Africa commented “As sponsors, MTN South Africa, has been very pleased by the passion and commitment shown by the riders throughout the year and know they have earned a well-deserved break. Cycling is growing from strength to strength in South Africa and by having the world-class National Series, MTN is showing its commitment to the sport,”

Photo credit: Zoon Cronje