The final leg of the Junior Eliminator Series for 2016 is taking place in Gauteng and the first of two events took place on Sunday 24 July at PWC Cycle Park. Riders were tested by the BMX style start finish through the pump track as well as by a rock garden providing for plenty of exciting action for the spectators!
Eliminator is a short course heat racing format of mountain biking, riders race four at a time around a short course roughly 800m in length – just under two minutes of flat out sprinting. The top two finishers in the heat advance through to the next round whilst unfortunately the bottom two finishers are eliminated from the event. Riders get to test the course in the morning being able to learn each corner or obstacle so that by time racing starts even the newbies to cycling are tackling the route at full gas.
The route at PWC Cycle Park was laid out in a figure of eight, for spectators they were able to see the whole course from standing in one spot and were entertained by some tight bar to bar racing. With great prizes and some prize money on offer from our sponsors Trek Bikes, Fox Racing, Skullcandy, OGIO and GoPro the young cyclists pushed themselves to advance through the heats which lead to a few riders hitting the deck!
We had an incredible turnout in the under 19 and 16 boys divisions which provided plenty of close sprint finishes. We had one lonely under 10 boy, Liam Hoffmann who raced the under 12 boys and gave them a real run for their money as he won a number of heats! Although there was a small field of ladies they provided some entertaining racing as they showed the boys they weren’t scared to tackle any of the obstacles.
In the team event, the Diepsloot MTB Academy and Midstream College have pulled ahead of the other 24 schools but by only a slight margin and this Sunday promises to offer some intense racing as we will be crowning our final Overall Champions for the 2016 series in both the individual divisions as well as the teams.
The final event for Gauteng and the Junior Eliminator Series for 2016 will be taking place this Sunday 31 July at Northern Farm. Entries are open, so if you weren’t at this past Sundays event there is still time to enter for the final event, we have a large number of raffle prizes so everyone who enters stands the chance to win! Entries close Friday 29 July and can be done online: www.onemovement.co.za.
Results: Junior Eliminator Series – PWC Cycle Park
GIRLS
Under 14
1. Jade Slabbert (Midstream College)
2. Kelly Randle (Midstream College)
Under 16
1. Andrea De Waal (High School for Girls Potchefstroom)
2. Kaylin Prinsloo (Hartbeespoort High School)
3. Robin Stewart (Waterkloof High School)
Under 19
1. Kelsi Chomse (Fourways High School)
BOYS
Under 10
1. Liam Hoffmann (Laerskool Monumentpark)
Under 12
1. Michael Vester (De La Salle Holy Cross College)
2. Moki Munyeya (Diepsloot MTB Academy)
3. Dylan Saayman (Redhill)
Under 14
1. Miguel Moutinho (Midstream College)
2. Ben Du Plessis (Menlo Park)
3. Cameron Dann (Heronbridge College)
Under 16
1. Bendeon Myburgh (Waterkloof High School)
2. Armand Terblanche (Zwartkop High School)
3. Keagan Bontekoning (Maragon Private School)
Under 19
1. Deon Du Toit (Montana High School)
2. Chad Fikkert (Midstream College)
3. Jayde Davies (Dainfern College)
This is a great initiative. It is pitched perfectly to attract younger riders to the sport. It is challenging enough to make it exciting and competitive, yet not to tough technically for novice riders. Why then do so few girls take part? Same situation at the Durban events. We need to do more to get young girls racing or the future of competitive XCO is under threat.