"It Ain't Over 'til The Fat Lady Sings"

Race Report : News Center

Philip Buys (Garmin-adidas) learned the truth of this proverb the hard way during the final seconds of the Telkom Satellite mountain bike race on Sunday.

Over the last hundred meters or so Buys and Kevin Evans (MTN/Energade) were involved in a hectic sprint for the line. Buys just had his wheel in front and it seemed as if he was going to defend his Satellite title successfully.

Then, just meters from the finishing line, the deciding incident occurred. For one-hundredth of a second Buys hesitated, slowing down ever so slightly. That was a grave mistake because the next moment Evans flashed past him to win.

“I can only blame myself for losing the race. I was so stupid. I should have known by now that no race is won or lost until you have crossed the finishing line.

“The reason why I lost was because I was worried about the narrow section that we had to race through to cross the finishing line, but it certainly did not bother Kevin.  Before I even realized what was happening, he was squeezing through between me and the timing equipment to win the race. In hindsight there was no reason for me to slow down at all.

“The approach to the finishing line was wide enough for anybody to race through quite easily.”

‘Superb’ is actually the only word to describe Evans’s performance, because on Saturday he managed to outfox the ‘roadies’ to win the Telkom Satellite road race as well. He is the first rider who has managed to win a mountain bike and a road race in two consecutive days this year.

“This is it for me this year. I am giving my bicycles (mountain bike as well as road bike) back this week and I am going on holiday,” Evans said afterwards.

Asked how he managed to beat Buys, Evans said that he realized quite early on during the race that he did not have the best pair of legs.

“I tried to ride away from Philip but he was just too strong for me. I then decided to just stay with him and take a gamble on the final sprint. Luckily for me it worked. I must have passed Philip with only five meters to the finishing line.”

Evans’s performance since he came back from the Trans-Alp Mountain Bike Tour in Europe has been impressive, to say the least.

Apart from the MTN Dirty Harry Race, he has won basically all the important mountain bike races in which he has competed. 

Buys is contemplating to race in the Addo National Park Mountain Bike Challenge this coming weekend.

Evans reckons that he should do so.

“The course suits Philip to a tee. It is tough and technical, so it will be difficult to beat him. I might also be there because the organizers have invited me, but I won’t be racing to win. I just want to enjoy myself.”

Rwanda’s Adrien Niyonshuti, who is also racing for MTN, finished 3rd in Sunday’s Satellite Race.