McGregor leads the pack
2005-07-14
HOT favourite to win this year’s Isuzu Berg River Canoe Marathon, Hank McGregor, started this gruelling race yesterday wearing the yellow jersey.
McGregor glided his way through the 18km time trial on Tuesday in a time of 23min:23sec, a substantial thirty seconds ahead of Russell Willis (23:56:52) in second. Van Gysen, (24:13:24) who still falls in the u.21 category, finished with the third fastest time.
The Durban paddler capitalised on this advantage by winning yesterday’s 59km first stage in a time of 4:45,54.
McGregor reached the finish at Zonquasdrift one and a half minute ahead of runner up, Russel Willis. Taking the third and fourth spots were local paddlers Gert van Deventer and Paul Marais.
The other favourite, Graeme Solomon, came in fifth five minutes behind the leader.
‘‘I’m happy with that result,’’ said McGregor. ‘‘It’s always great to start in yellow and I’m aiming to hold onto that jersey till the end. The river narrows out fairly quickly in these low conditions and you can very easily find yourself paddling in single file so it’s important to me to start near the front.
To add to the pre-start jitters, yesterday’s race only got underway after a false start. The front row did more then their fair share of sneaking past the starting line and was called back. This however did not phase McGregor who was out of the blocks in a flash and was leading the field of 210 at the Long Street bridge with Russell Willis breathing down his neck.
At Skooltjie, approximately 40% of the way through the first stage, McGregor and Willis (photo) were still leading the race, roughly a minute ahead of a following group of Graeme Solomon, Simon van Gysen, Pieter-Willem Basson and Gert van Deventer.
Solomon added his late entry this week, despite the lack of rain that would have been to his advantage.
Alexa Lombard and Abbey Miedema are leading the ladies race.e
Lombard was the first woman to arrive at the overnight stop in a time of 5:12,27, three and a half minutes ahead of close rival, Aba·
bey Madema.
Lombard also finished in the top 20, being the 20th paddler to glide past the finish line. Madema came in at the 23rd spot.
‘‘Day one is crucial,’’ McGregor emphasized on Tuesday. ‘‘My aim is to win day one and set myself up for the remaining three days. It’s a long river to have to play catch up on, especially if you’re alone.’’
‘‘If I get a gap I’ll go out hard from the start,’’ he explained. ‘‘I don’t mind paddling alone for four days, as long as I’m at the front. It gives you a better chance to pick the right lines. At the same time though I know I’m strong enough to keep up with the front pack so I’ll just see how the race develops.’’
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