The most recent edition of the BuffelsTrap road cycle classic took place on the 30th of July 2022. Our riders got in their cars and travelled to ATKV Buffelspoort resort in order to take to the start line of this 114Km race.
By 07:30, all riders took off in a combined category that saw the elite men, elite women, juniors and vets battling it out to reach the finish line. This was due to small racing batches which was the effect of a busy racing weekend, seeing the major teams being represented across every discipline including gravel and MTB.
The route saw two laps of a 57Km flat and fast course with the twist of a steep kick in the middle of the course. A busy start to the race eventually culminated in a clear break which included Team DMS rider Nicholas James and Aluwani rider Reynard Butler. This bunch was then joined by Cycle Power rider Ruan England and Team DMS rider Dirkie Nel. The bunch now had a rider representing each of the major teams that were present on the day.
The four man breakaway was soon joined by two chasers, Ivan Harkema and Kieran Correia (Cycle Power). A steady pace was set between the six break away riders on the first lap.
By lap two, a decision was made by rider Dirk Nel to make a move on the steep climb. The Team DMS riders managed to gain a small advantage, however, Nicholas James suffered a mechanical a few kilometres later which left our riders in a tricky situation.
At this point, a lone rider from Cycle Power had broken away and gained a 40 second advantage over the bunch. While all this was going on in the front of the race, we had two riders, David Maree and Jaco Van Dyk, who were trying to bridge their way from the bunch to the second break. Unfortunately these riders were eventually reabsorbed back into the bunch. This was communicated to Dirk Nel via the Team managers and it was decided that the gap between the second break away and the lone leader needed to be managed.
Nicholas James had eventually made his way back to the bunch and was willing to work for Dirk Nel in the best interests of the team. The lone leader managed a steady gap for quite a while, until the last climb where Dirk Nel and Ruan England attacked and overtook the lone leader. These two riders then had a decision to make; try and attack each other or work together to distance the gap between Reynard Butler (a rider who was the firm favourite to win the race). The latter decision was made and eventually a safe distance was obtained.
The two leaders now made it to the last 5Km. Ruan took the sprint on quite early leaving Dirk the ability to just make it over him and pip him at the line. All in all Team DMS received a first place, with rider Dirk Nel, and a fourth place, with rider Nick James. Second place went to Ruan England of Team Cycle Power and third went to Reynard Butler of Aluwani.
We are really happy with the performance of the team and hope to build on this and get a great victory at an even bigger race where more teams are present.
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