Boros, Beavitt extend Berg lead... now for major stage
IT was another strong day from Hungarian star Adrián Boros as he powered clear of the chasers to take stage two honours in the Berg River Canoe Marathon as Bianca Beavitt continued to dominate the women’s race.
Boros had a slender lead going into the second “King Maker” stage yesterday, and he showed his prowess in growing his lead over Graeme Solomon to just over three minutes at the conclusion of the stage at Bridgetown.
“I did make a stupid mistake today that got Graeme back into the race when I had to portage,” Boros said.
“My plan was to break away from him at the start, but after my mistake we were back together; then just after Katkop, Graeme made a mistake and I got clear of him.”
It was a shortened stage two for the paddlers yesterday, meaning that energy levels will not be as depleted as in the past going into the long 75km third stage to Zoutkloof today.
“The race is far from over. Tomorrow I want to try and stay with the group – that will be my tactic.” said Boros.
For Solomon, yesterday’s second stage was one to forget. “The whole day we were trying to hit each other wherever an opportunity presented itself. It was great, hard racing which I enjoy.
“With about six kilometres to go I ran too far at the one portage which meant that the bank was too steep for me to get back(quickly).
“I floundered in the water for a bit and as I got back into my boat he was gone.
“He had about one minute, ten seconds on me and I tried to hold that gap but I made one more mistake at a tree-block (near) the finish which cost me another couple of minutes,” Solomon said.
In a drama-laden day, third-place paddler overnight Keith Moule had to finish the stage in a different boat after he did irreparable damage to his kayak early on the 33km stage.
“I hit some rocks and folded my boat at the cockpit which made the day really long for me. I guess I am still in the top 10, which I am quite happy about!” Moule said after the stage.
Beavitt was far more fluent yesterday compared to her opening stage showing and with her solid performance came a doubling of her overall lead to 31 minutese.
“I saw today as a fresh start despite my lead and the 30km distance is something that we are very used to from our pre-Berg races so that was good for me,” Beavitt said.
The 75km third stage will take paddlers from the overnight stop at Bridgetown to