The weekend’s National MTB Championships at Mankele MTB Park saw Rio Olympian Alan Hatherly grab the Elite Men’s XCO title, and the women’s race win went to 2014 Commonwealth Games cyclist Mariske Strauss.
The fastest down the hill on Sunday was Johann ‘Pottie’ Potgieter. Team Spur’s Hatherly consistently drove the ace to remain in the front of the race from start to finish, claiming the title after seven laps in a time of 1hr 19min 30sec. He was well clear of second-placed rider Philip Buys… by over a minute, with Matthys Beukes claiming the bronze medal.
Hatherly mentioned how thrilled he was with his win, having been trying to grab it for the past three years.He also mentioned the extreme heat on the course, and that he took in more fluids than usual to keep up his power to the end.
Hatherly said the Mankele course was super rough and technical, with plenty of sharp, loose rocks which forced some caution in various sections. ‘Playing it “safe” tactically – to save the equipment – was super important today,’ he said.
Hatherly still went full gas out of the gates – racing on a game plan whereby he’d go 100% until halfway through the race and then reassess his game plan. ‘I knew Phil and Matthys as teammates were going to try play a tactical game, so I wanted to go all-in from the beginning until midway and then take it from there, to see where I was, and who was still around.
‘I went out super hard on the first two laps and by the end of the second lap I had a gap on Phil so I knew the pace I was setting was good enough,’ he said. ‘I then tapped off to settle down into a good consistent rhythm and then I pretty much held that through to the end.’
‘It was quite hot out there and the last half of the race was just about managing the conditions. I took ice socks from the guys and drank a bit more than usual just to try not to fade in the last lap,’ Hatherly said, adding that his Specialized S-Works Epic was running super sweet thanks to the expertise of Team Spur’s Technical Manager and wrench wizard JP Jacobs.
Hatherly now heads off to Mont Sainte-Anne in Canada to continue his campaign on the UCI U23 World Cup circuit, where he’s ranked sixth. ‘It’s been a good year so far and I’m looking forward to another hard week before I leave. The form is good and I’m hoping to do some damage there.’
For OMX Pro Team’s Strauss (pictured above) in the women’s race, it was an equally dominant performance as she completed her six laps in a time of 1:22:27.
The race between Cheri Redecker and Amy McDougall was a tussle until Redecker picked up her pace on the fourth lap to secure the silver medal and McDougall the bronze.
Strauss said: ‘The race was super – I’m glad to be back on form. After being sick I didn’t know what to expect, so I started off easy and wound it up. It was so smooth, my bike was an absolute delight and the track was amazing. Thank you to everyone involved. I cannot believe the cross-country season is already over.’
Julian Jessop and Frankie du Toit claimed the U23 races. The Youth and Junior Men also provided for exciting racing, where any one of the top four or five could have taken the wins. Tiffany Keep won the Junior Women’s race, and Johan Trotzky held it together to win the Junior Men’s race, where only two seconds separated the top three times. Zandri Strydom and Daniel van der Walt won the Youth categories.
On Sunday Potgieter (YT-Industries and Dragon Energy) absolutely blitzed the trails to become the newly crowned National Downhill Champ in a time of 2min 17sec, ahead of 2016 champion Stefan Garlicki in second and Christopher Philogene in third (see podium above).
‘Looking back at my season as a whole, the SA Champs was my main goal. I had been happy with my performances in Europe as well. It was a different feeling being at home – you know. You could be in contention to win it. I was nervous about it,’ he said.
Having been in the game for some time now, Potgieter said: ‘I’m a bit older now and a bit more experienced, so I just tried to keep myself calm and not push too hard. It could cost you a lot of time because on a course like Mankele its easy to make a mistake.’
Potgieter gave it his all on the course, and after being seeded first, was elated with his final run as a whole. ‘I was just super happy and very relieved. This was the fourth National title to my name, but the first in seven years. I was happy to prove to myself that I could do it again. I was very happy about it. I’m over the moon – I can’t believe it, its still sinking in.’
The women’s race was won by youth rider Zandri Strydom, who did the double after winning the XCO on Saturday.
Pictures of Hatherly and Strauss courtesy of Memories 4 U Photography Facebook Page
SUMMARY OF RESULTS
Elite Men (7 laps)
1 Alan Hatherly 1hr 19min 30sec
2 Philip Buys 01.20.44
3 Matthys Beukes 01.21.35
Elite Women (6 laps)
1 Mariske Strauss 01.22.27
2 Cherie Redecker 01.23.14
3 Amy Mcdougall 01.25.37
Men U-23 (6 laps)
1 Julian Jessop 01.13.27
2 Franco Pelser 01.14.28
3 Henry Liebenberg 01.14.54
Women U-23 (5 laps)
1 Frances Du Toit 01.12.01
2 Bianca Haw 01.12.52
3 Julia Kotze 01.22.18
Junior Men (5 laps)
1 Johann Trotzky 01.05.55
2 Pieter Du Toit 01.05.55
3 Dawie Grobbelaar 01.05.57
Junior Women (4 laps)
1 Tiffany Keep 00.59.46
2 Danielle Strydom 01.01.28
3 Allison Morton 01.07.25
Sub Junior Boys (3 laps)
1 Ian Els 00.42.19
2 Aidan Penfold 00.42.51
3 Justin Chesterton 00.44.02
Sub Junior Girls (2 laps)
1 Chloe Bateson 00.32.05
2 Chante Olivier 00.32.15
3 Marjoné Strydom 00.36.26
Youth Men (4 laps)
1 Daniel Van Der Walt 00.50.20
2 Jamie Penfold 00.51.10
3 Luke Moir 00.52.11
Youth Women (3 laps)
1 Zandri Strydom 00.43.11
2 Emma Van Coller 00.48.13
3 Megan Bircher 00.50.10
Veteran Men (4 laps)
1 Nico Pfitzenmaier 00.52.41
2 Grant Usher 00.53.15
3 Mark Moir 00.54.21
Veteran Women (4 laps)
1 Natalie Bergström 01.02.37
2 Theresa Ralph 01.08.05
3 Yvonne Cornes 01.03.59 (3 laps)
Sub Vet Men (5 laps)
1 Brand Du Plessis 01.03.22
2 Dan Fowler 01.04.27
3 Dion Froneman 01.06.01
Master Men (3 laps)
1 Alan Van Coller 00.42.42
2 Jimmy Mills 00.47.26
3 Dirk Maarsingh 00.47.57
Grand Master Men (2 laps)
1 Colin Gibbings 00.34.38
2 Charles Stander 00.34.46
Sprog Boys (4 laps)
1 Alec Coleske 00.41.49
2 Ernest Roets 00.43.06
3 Hendre De Villiers 00.43.28
Sprog Girls (3 laps)
1 Lilian Baber 00.35.37
2 Olivia Penfold 00.36.25
3 Emily Van Heerden 00.37.21
Nipper Boys (3 laps)
1 Alessandro Fanicchi 00.33.49
2 Luca Zietsman 00.34.31
3 Gustav Dirk-Roller 00.35.12
Nipper Girls (2 laps)
1 Hannah Elliott 00.25.36
2. Danel De Jager 00.26.58
3 Megan Botha 00.27.42
NATIONAL MTB CHAMPS DHI
Overall (Top 10)
1 Johann Potgieter 02:17.991 (Elite Men)
2 Stefan Garlicki 02:20.231 (Elite Men)
3 Christopher Philogene 02:20.815 (Elite Men)
4 Jonathan Philogene 02:24.089 (Elite Men)
5 Struan McMaster 02:33.769 (Elite Men)
6 Cullen McMaster 02:33.881 (Junior Men)
7 Niko Velasco 02:34.055 (Junior Men)
8 Sharjah Jonsson 02:35.929 (Junior Men)
9 Dylan Williams 02:38.521 (Elite Men)
10 Jasper Barrett 02:40.901 (Youth Men)