PHOTOS | From UFOs to surviving Katbakkies: The News24 Karoo Burn 2023 in pics

What a weekend. Riders faced some tough conditions to complete the News24 Karoo Burn 2023 race this weekend.

I joined our cycling editor, Lance Branquinho, out in the Tankwa and saw the legendary Katbakkies for myself.

"You ride, and then you think you're at the top, and then you get there, and there's another climb waiting, and then another, and another," one exhausted and dust-covered rider told his wife as he was munching down a post-race hot dog.

In the end, it was Dusty Day and Yolande de Villiers who emerged victorious in a war of attrition against the wind, as much as against the brutal R355 gravel road.

The 242-kilometre-long race from Calvinia to Kaleo Guest Farm, near Ceres, took on the longest, straight, uninterrupted gravel road in the country. If that was not challenge enough, a southerly wind blew all day, providing a stiff headwind for the entire course.

"Long… headwind… hot…. tough…." Day puffed on the finish line. "Ja, dit was hard!" ("Yes, it was tough!")

"We [Day, CP van Wyk, Jaco Davel and Bennie Viljoen] all worked together against the wind," Day expanded. "There was no point in trying to do anything alone. We all know the race would be made after the Tankwa Padstal on Katbakkies Pass."

ALSO READ | Karoo Burn 2023: Wind and wisdom in the Tankwa

“It was an absolutely brutal day with virtually no free kilometres,” News24 cycling editor Lance Branquinho said. "Wind is any rider's worst adversary, and it was relentless to the end. Even the strongest riders finished way slower than they anticipated."

Despite all the challenging conditions, the News24 Karoo Burn was undoubtedly a success. Ultra-endurance racing is, after all, not meant to be easy.

WATCH A VIDEO OF THE WEEKEND HERE:

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