Tankwa trek 2014

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TANTALIZING TANKWA TREK

“Dramatic

final stage

sees Reid, Davids secure overall Tankwa trek win”

Mountainbiking

Story: Sean Badenhorst Photos: Zoon Cronje


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Giving it horns(previous page)

The Shot: F The shot: Ralf Näf giving it horns at the DuToit Tankwa Trek The spec: 1/200s @ f20 remote and flash fired Nikon D610 Nikkor 14-24 f2.8 two SB910 flashes Lightroom levels More info www.tankwatrek.co.za

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Lighting up the single track

The shot: It doesn’t happen often that I have enough time to set up a shot but walking back on the track I found a spot where I could place the remote flash and fire it into the sun with an additional on body flash to light the Singletrack and the rider even though I would be shooting into the sun. Trek’s Brendon Davids was the victim here. The spec: 1/200s @ f14 remote and flash fired Nikon D610 Nikkor 14-24 f2.8 two SB910 flashes Lightroom More info: www.dryland.co.za

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Shadows & Dust The shot: I noticed a bigger bunch of riders approaching and shooting into the sun I managed to capture this striking silhouette with the shadows and dust in the early Karoo morning sun The spec: 1/2500s @ f6.3 no flash Nikon D610 Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 Lightroom levels More info: www.xtremedia.co.za

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South African Erik Kleinhans and his Czech teammate, Frantisek Rabon (RE:CM Specialized) won the final stage of the

three-day DUTOIT Tankwa Trek mountain bike stage race on Sunday, but it was the young South African pair of James Reid and Brendon Davids (Trek Racing) that claimed an impressive overall victory on a dramatic final day.

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Overnight leaders, Tim Bohme and Simon Stiebjahn (Team Bulls) failed to make the start line after Stiebjahn was felled by gastro bug and was too ill to ride. That effectively handed the lead to second-placed Trek Racing’s Reid and Davids, but the young pair of cross-country specialists still had to complete the 63km final leg against a strong international field.


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Wake me up before you go The shot: Putting down with the helicopter to get some static shots always draws a crowd even before the bikes arrive. These youngsters came to see what the fuss was about still dressed in their ps’s The spec: 1/200s @ f8 remote and flash fired Nikon D610 Nikkor 14-24 f2.8 two SB910 flashes Lightroom Levels More info: www.zooncronje.com

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Flying Frantisek

The shot: Shooting fast moving subjects into the sun especially in dim early morning light requires a lot of artifial light, I fired both flashes at full force making sure I follow the movement through the shot resulting in a crisp colorful shot with just enough motion blur The spec: 1/160s @ f6.3 remote and flash fired Nikon D610 Nikkor 14-24 f2.8 two SB910 flashes Lightroom levels More info: www.zooncronje.com

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Cherise Stander: “It was good to win. I haven’t won a mountain bike race in ages. After struggling emotionally for the ZoonCronje.com / NIKON

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whole of last year after losing Burry, I’m now regaining my physical form and a hunger to race hard again.”


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Perspiration and concentration

The shot: Cherise Stander from RE:CM focussing on the best line navigating one of the many technical climbs the Tankwa Karoo presented The spec: 1/200s @ f10 remote and flash fired Nikon D610 Nikkor 14-24 f2.8 two SB910 flashes Lightroom Levels More info: www.zooncronje.com

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Taking the drop The shot: Stefan Sahm from Team Bulls tucks behind his seat into a steep drop down the cliff face on day2 of the DuToit Tankwa Trek The spec: 1/200s @ f7.1 remote and flash fired Nikon D610 Nikkor 14-24 f2.8 two SB910 flashes Lightroom More info: www.zooncronje.com

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And they completed it convincingly

“We’re not stage race specialists, but the standard of the racing at the Tankwa Trek was so high so the racing was really intense, which is what Brendon and I are used to from , making Kleinhans and our cross-country racing,” said Reid, who is the current Elite Rabon fight hard for the stage win, which they secured in a men’s South African marathon champion. sprint finish against Reid and Davids in a time of 02 hours 09 minutes 05 seconds. It was the third consecutive stage runners-up placing for Reid and Davids. They were disappointed to lose the stage in a sprint but elated with the overall title.

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Eye in the sky

The shot: I wanted to highlight the fact that I was shooting from close by and from the air and by including the shadow of the helicopter I managed to do just that The spec: 1/500s @ f5.6 no flash Nikon D610 Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 More info: www.zooncronje.com

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Uber domination

The shot: In a dominant show of force all six Team Bulls riders obliterated the field on stage one of the Tankwa Trek. The spec: 1/800s @ f7.1 Nikon D610 Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 More info: www.zooncronje.com

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Huber and Platt finished with the top two teams to secure first and second places respectively in the men’s Solo division. As teammates, they finished second at last year’s ABSA Cape Epic will team up again as Team Bulls’ No. 1 team for next month’s edition of the Cape Epic, using the Tankwa Trek as a key final preparation race.

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Over the edge

The shot: The Ceres valley in the back caught my eye and snapping the two Team Bulls riders charging to another win made the shot The spec: 1/800s @ f7.1 no flash Nikon D610 Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 More info: www.zooncronje.com

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“We were aiming for the stage win, but it wasn’t

to be. We had a really clean, hard duel with them today, including some tactical elbows-out riding in the final section of singletrack. Brendon and I tried to put them under pressure on the singletrack because we know that Rabon is still new to mountain biking and struggles a bit in the technical

stuff. But they responded really well and worked hard for that win. It was a satisfying way to finish of the event,” added Reid. Huber and Platt finished with the top two teams to secure first and second places respectively in the men’s Solo division. As teammates, they finished second at last year’s ABSA Cape Epic will team up again as Team Bulls’ No. 1

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team for next month’s edition of the Cape Epic, using the Tankwa Trek as a key final preparation race. Second in the General Classification was the Fairview Elite pair of Adriaan Louw (RSA) and Konny Looser (BEL) with Cannondale Blend’s Darren Lill (RSA) and Charles Keey (RSA) rounding out the final podium places.


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No Bull

The shot: Team Bulls passing by an unsuspecting spectator in the form of a cow The spec: 1/400s @ f5 Nikon D610 Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 More info: www.zooncronje.com

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Karl Platt: “Urs is super strong and my form is around 85-90%

and with six weeks to the Cape Epic, I’m feeling confident. I really had a lot of fun today and that’s a good sign. The course was amazing. Such variety, but so enjoyable and beautiful,”

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Putting the hammer down

The shot: Germany’s Karl Platt pushes the tempo on the base of the “Merino Monster” climb setting up the win for team mate Urs Huber by going as they call it “volle kanonne” The spec: 1/1600s @ f5 Nikon D610 Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 More info: www.zooncronje.com

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Lining them up

The shot: Team RE:CM duo Cherise Stander and Ariane Kleinhans on their way to another stage win and the overall victory. It was the natural lines that drew my lens here. The spec: 1/250s @ f8 Nikon D610 Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 More info: www.zooncronje.com

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Protea perfection

The shot: The beauty of the Tankwa Karoo region is showcased by the abundance of proteas along the flowing single track coming down the Merino Monster The spec: 1/640s @ f6.3 Nikon D610 Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 More info: www.zooncronje.com

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Team RE:CM’s Ariane Kleinhans (SUI) and Cherise Stander (RSA) completed their domination of the Tankwa Trek by

claiming a third consecutive stage win and the overall women’s team title. They were always under pressure from the Sasol Racing pair of

Ischen Stopforth (RSA) and Yolande de Villiers (RSA), who finished second on each stage and second overall. The final stage saw just a 17-second gap between RE:CM and Sasol Racing. The Pragma Orange Monkey’s pair of Hanlie Booyens (RSA) and Mariske Strauss (RSA) was third overall.

England’s Leona Kadir won the final stage and the overall women’s Solo category title, while the John O’Connor Cycles pair of Andrew Payne (RSA) and Bianca Cartoulis (RSA) rounded out their Mixed Category domination of the event with a third stage win and the overall crown.

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Fly by shooting

The shot: Getting a different perspective with the natural lines, riders and shadows always makes for visually interesting images where it is all about timing your shot and your position The spec: 1/320s @f9 Nikon D610 Nikkor 70200mm f2.8 Lightroom Levels and vignette More info: www.zooncronje.com

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The first 2014 ABSA Cape Epic podium battle warning shots were be fired this week as a strong

international field lined up to tackle the second edition of the DUTOIT Tankwa Trek mountain bike stage race in the Cedarberg region of South Africa’s Western Cape province.

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Rocking trails

TThe shot: The incredible rock formations of the Tankwa region makes for some incredible riding and with this shot I hoped to give a glimpse The spec: 1/250 @ f8 Nikon D610 Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 More info: www.zooncronje.com

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Singletrack shoot out

The shot: Frantisek Rabon and Erik Kleinhans being gunned down by cross country specialists James Reid and Brendon Davids The spec: 1/250s @ f8 Nikon D610 Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 More info: www.zooncronje.com

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Riders from 10 countries used the three-day event to sharpen their stage-race conditioning ahead of the 11th Cape Epic, which starts on 23 March.

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Ray of ligh

The shot: Waylon Woolcock from Cannondale Blend riding through one of the forested sections on day 1 of the 2014 Du Toit Tankwa Trek The spec: 1/200s @ f14 remote and flash fired Nikon D610 Nikkor 14-24 f2.8 two SB910 flashes More info: www.zooncronje.com

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Besides offering a firstclass racing experience

to a field limited to 400, the DUTOIT Tankwa Trek has embarked on a committed, longterm development initiative that will see farm workers from DUTOIT and Fairview participating in the event every year. DUTOIT is a leading producer of fruit and vegetables, while Fairview produces wine and cheese products.

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Sky high The shot: James Reid drops back down into the Ceres valley The spec: 1/200 @ f9 remote and flash fired Nikon D610 Nikkor 14-24 f2.8 two SB910 flashes More info: www.zooncronje.com

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