Events

Mountain bike action aplenty over next two weekends

· By Matt · 1 comment

There is an abundance of mountain bike action taking place over the next 2 weekends, both locally and abroad, with a national cross-country cup race in Gauteng, UCI World Cup event in the Czech Republic, and the national marathon champs next Saturday.

This weekend sees the third round of the Cycling SA-MTB National Cup Series taking place at Thaba Trails in Gauteng. After the opening two rounds in Cape Town and KwaZulu-Natal, the Gauteng leg is set to provide the competitors “with a little bit of everything” in terms of course design.

Online pre-entries for the cross-country (XCO) and downhill (DHI) events are now closed. Late entries will be accepted at registration on Friday 24 May (09:00-16:00 for XCO and DHI) andSaturday 25 May (09:00-14:00 for DHI only).

Spectators are welcome, and entrance is free.

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South African u23 cross-country competitor Rourke Croeser, who races for the international Orange Monkey Pro Mountain Bike team, in action at last weekend’s opening round of the UCI MTB World Cup Series in Albstadt, Germany. Photo courtesy Anna Buick/Orange Monkey.

Also taking place this weekend is the second round of the 2013 UCI World Cup XCO season in Nove Mesto na Morave, Czech Republic.

South Africa’s riders will be looking at building on last week’s performances at the opening round in Albstadt, Germany to add to their UCI points tally. As with last week, Candice Neethling and Mariske Strauss will represent the women’s under-23 category, whilst Rourke Croeser, Paul Rodenbach, Luke Roberts, James Reid, Brendon Davids, Travis Walker and Arno du Toit will fly the flag in the men’s u23 class.

In the elite category, Philip Buys and Renay Groustra will once again be put through their paces in this high-intensity form of racing, with Louw Kriel taking part in the juniors’ event.

Discover the Red Bull Media House Live timing time schedule for the whole 2013 season.

Red Bull Media House, the exclusive production partner and online broadcaster of the 2013 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup presented by Shimano, will present the action LIVE as it unfolds on www.redbull.com/bike.

Tune it at the following times to watch the races:

  • 24.05.2013 – UCI Mountain Bike XCE Men & Women Elite 15:45-18:00 (GMT)
  • 26.05.2013 – UCI Mountain Bike XCO Women Elite 09:15-11:30 (GMT)
  • 26.05.2013 – UCI Mountain Bike XCO Men Elite 11:45-14:00 (GMT)

Click this link to be directed to the web page: http://www.redbull.c…-czech-republic

Then for the endurance riders, the 2013 SA Mountain Bike Marathon Championships takes places in Hazyview, Mpumalanga. The team at Induna Adventure are anticipating an action-packed day of racing.

Not only will the elite categories be represented, but the age-group categories outside of elite will also be contending on the same course for championship honours.

The 120km elite men’s course (aged 19 and up) is made up of the 75km route with the final 35km section to be ridden again, while the elite women (aged 19 and up) will be required to complete the 75km route for the championship race. Non-elite category riders have the opportunity to race on the same tracks and trails that has made this venue popular for mountain bike marathon events for many years, and will tackle the 75km route and 40km race routes.

For detailed race information, maps and route profiles, visit our dedicated National Champs web page.

Online pre-entries are open and close on Tuesday 28 June at midnight – click here to enter now or download the entry form if entering manually.

Comments

Wil6

May 26, 2013, 11:08 AM

Anybody watching this or going to watch it?

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