The third round of the 2017 SA National MTB Cup Series XCO took place in Bloemfontein at Happy Valley Conservancy at the weekend, with Olympian Alan Hatherley and Mariske Strauss taking the elite honours.
The penultimate race of the National series attracted a fair amount of international riders as well, with eight nations represented during the highly competitive event.
Team Spur’s Hatherly (No 1 in main picture) crossed the line after six laps of racing, in a time of 1hr 34min 50sec. The most impressive rider on the day, however, was second-placed Jan Withaar, who rode fast and hard to finish in 1:38:42, with Stuart Marais crossing the line in third place (1:39:16).
For 34-year-old Withaar the first two laps were a struggle to find a constant rhythm. ‘It was more of a matter of finding the concentration than it was physical,’ he said. ‘I hadn’t cleated in properly either at the beginning, which also isn’t too helpful,’ he added.
When chatting about the course, Withaar said: ‘It’s a very natural track, and it was a little bit blown out – which by no means detracted the quality of it. It’s an excellent track, we just all had to be very careful and concentrate hard to not hit too many obstacles that could lead us to punctures.’
Withaar was very happy with his second place and said that this result has given him even more of a confidence boost. ‘Seeing the repeatability after Pretoria means so much to me, and it’s very reassuring,’ he added.
OMX Pro Team’s Strauss (picture above) crossed the finish line first in the five-lap Elite Women’s race in a time of 1:38:55.
Second place went to Swiss Team Spur rider Ariane Luthi in a time of 01:42:20, and third place to Namibian Michelle Vorster (1:45:55).
‘Today went really well for me. It was dry and dusty out there, but it was a great race – there were lots of obstacles to keep us alert and on our toes,’ Strauss said.
Strauss heads off to KwaZulu-Natal soon to take part in the 2017 Sani2c next week, with 2012 Olympian Robyn de Groot for Team Ascendis Health. ‘I’ve wanted to do Sani for a long time and I am really looking forward to it,’ she added.
The following week Strauss heads off to start her UCI MTB World Cup campaign with the Nove Mesto (CZE) and Albstadt (GER) races on 20/21 and 27/28 May respectively. ‘I’m excited to get the World Cup season going, and I ‘m going to take it one race at a time,’ she said.
All the top riders from all of the race categories were present to solidify their standings on the series log, with one remaining event to be held in Pietermaritzburg mid-June. Solid racing was observed, especially in the Junior and Youth categories. The countries represented were South Africa, USA, Switzerland, Lesotho, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Botswana.
In the Junior race, which formed part of the UCI Junior World Series, the men’s title went to Pieter du Toit after four laps in a time of 1:08:53. Johann Trotzky and Namibian Alex Miller diced for the second and third places, with both riders recording the same finishing time of 1:10:55, but Trotzky’s wheel was inches ahead of Miller’s to take the second place.
Tiffany Keep won the three-lap Junior Women’s race in a time of 1:04:13 against second-placed Danielle Strydom (1:05:19), who finished just over a minute off the winning time. Azulde Britz finished in third place in a time of 1:11:03.
‘Today went really well,’ said Keep. Although looking as though she had breezed through the course, she emphasised that it wasn’t an easy one. ‘It was very tough, but mostly the conditions that made it so. There was also a lot of climbing as well. There hasn’t been rain here either, so it was very sandy and dusty. The races before us also then made the track quite blown-out by the time that we raced.
‘A few of the lines had changed on the climbs and there were a lot of loose rocks. The downhill sections were really fun. There were quite a few spectators watching that as well. The climbs took a lot out of me because they were very hard. I am happy with my win.’
The fourth and final round of the 2017 SA National MTB Cup Series XCO takes place at Cascades MTB Park in Pietermaritzburg on 17 June.
Pictures of Hatherley and Strauss courtesy of Reblex Photography
SUMMARY OF RESULTS
Elite Men (six laps)
1 Alan Hatherly 1:34:50.484
2 Jan Withaar 1:38:42.312
3 Stuart Marais 1:39:16.801
4 Dominic Calitz 1:39:45.545
5 Arno du Toit 1:40:30.433
6 Tristan de Lange 1:46:14.182
7 Jason Meaton 1:46:57.118
8 Wessel Botha 1:47:50.838
9 Thomas Jessop 1:49:23.913
10 Phetetso Monese 1:52:13.043
Elite Women (5 laps)
1 Mariske Strauss 1:38:55.414
2 Ariane Luthi 1:42:20.220
3 Michelle Vorster 1:45:55.507
4 Sarah Hill 1:50:21.740
5 Frances du Toit 1:55:39.598
Junior Men (4 laps)
1 Pieter du Toit 1:08:53.978
2 Johann Trotzky 1:10:55.262
3 Alex Miller 1:10:55.691
Junior Women (3 laps)
1 Tiffany Keep 1:04:13.127
2 Danielle Strydom 1:05:19.846
3 Azulde Britz 1:11:03.350
Youth Men (3 laps)
1 Luke Moir 51:46.200
2 Jamie Penfold 52:04.184
3 Daniel van der Walt 53:08.818
Youth Women (3 laps)
1 Zandri Strydom 1:04:32.933
2 Sabine Thies 1:09:48.537
3 Emma van Coller 1:10:34.445
Sub Junior Boys (3 laps)
1 Luca Ruwiel 1:02:28.396
2 Marcel Swartz 1:04:18.392
3 Ben du Plessis 1:07:16.556
Sub Junior Girls (2 laps)
1 Chante Olivier 44:43.233
2 Chloe Bateson 50:34.117
3 Madison Mann 53:00.794
Sprog Boys (4 laps)
1 Alec Coleske 43:08.820
2 Kevin Lowe 44:36.303
3 Hendre de Villiers 45:20.218
Sprog Girls (3 laps)
1 Lilian Baber 37:56.932
2 Riley Smith 44:26.018
3 Ada Kahl 48:59.721
Nipper Boys (3 laps)
1 Logan Stander 35:51.467
2 Alessandro Fanicchi 35:59.095
3 Roger Suren 38:45.749
Nipper Girls (2 laps)
1 Hannah Elliott 30:17.806
2 Danel de Jager 32:40.418
3 Megan Botha 32:54.791
Sub Vet Men (4 laps)
1 Jacques Malherbe 1:17:33.813
2 Duane Stander 1:22:26.715
3 Justice Makhale 1:40:31.846
Sub Vet Women (3 laps)
1 Ronel Odendaal
Veteran Men (4 laps)
1 Mark Moir 1:21:33.428
2 David Walsh 1:31:20.404
3 Marcel Suren 1:33:26.384
Master Men (3 laps)
1 Dirk Maarsingh 1:03:01.949
2 Alan van Coller 1:05:30.483
3 Marc Ruwiel 1:19:01.063