Cycling South Africa’s MTB National Cup Series wrapped up at Mankele Mountain Bike Park last weekend, with Olympians Candice Neethling and Philip Buys securing victory in the Pro-elite women and men’s races respectively. Timothy Bentley and Nadia Botha posted the fastest descents on the downhill track to take top honours on the day.
The 2013 Cup Series presented exciting and close racing throughout the season, and the fourth and final round was no different.
Rourke Croeser (u23) finished 5th overall in the Pro-elite race of the final National XCO Cup Series round, which took place at Mankele MTB Park in Mpumalanga on 22 June 2013. Photo: supplied
The pro-elite men and junior men’s races resulted in a nail biting finish following relentless performances lap after lap. Buys (elite) won the 6-lap pro-elite race by one second over newly crowned National Marathon Champion James Reid (u23).
Neethling finished her 5-lap race less than a minute ahead of second placed Kendall Ryan in 01:35:20.
Alan Hatherly and Dylan Rebello produced the most thrilling race, posting identical lap times for each lap during the 4-lap race, both posting a finish time of 1 hour 4 minutes and 4 seconds with Hatherly awarded the win.
Marne Botha won the junior women’s race over Jessica Alcock by 18 seconds in 01:04:17.
The downhill race saw Bentley post the fastest run of the day in 2 minutes 19.50 seconds with Tiaan Odendaal finishing in second place in 02:20.87. Nadia Botha won the women’s race.
The award ceremony for the 2013 National MTB Cup Series will take place at the Hayterdale Trails in Port Elizabeth after the SA National MTB Championships on 20 and 21 July.
Click here for the full XCO results
Click here for the full DHI results
For the Masters’ categories of 30-years-old and above, the Final XCO Points Log after 4 races can be viewed by clicking the following link: http://www.cyclingsa.com/App_Resources/Uploads/FILE00002516.pdf
Click here for the 2013 Downhill Series Log
The first 3 riders in each 5-year age group (the As and Bs) have achieved merit selection for the South African Masters’ Team for the UCI Masters MTB World Championships in Pietermaritzburg from 21-25 August.
SA National XCO Cup Series #4 – Mankele MTB Park, Mpumalanga – 22 June 2013
Pro-Elite Men: (6 laps)
- Philip Buys 01:31:49 (Elite)
- James Reid 01:31:50 (u23)
- Matthys Beukes 01:32:29 (Elite)
- Arno Du Toit 01:33:28 (u23)
- Rourke Croeser 01:33:45 (u23)
Pro-Elite Women: (5 laps)
- Candice Neethling 01:35:20 (u23)
- Kendall Ryan 01:36:11 (u23)
- Cherie Vale 01:37:18 (Elite)
- Yolande Speedy 01:37:48 (Elite)
- Vera Adrian 01:39:28 (u23)
Junior Men: (4 laps)
- Alan Hatherly 01:04:04
- Dylan Rebello 01:04:04
- Ivan Venter 01:05:31
Junior Women: (3 laps)
- Marne Botha 01:04:17
- Jessica Alcock 01:04:35
- Marie-Christin Kempf 01:06:20
Youth Men: (4 laps)
- Matthew Lombardi 01:06:33
- Marco Joubert 01:07:35
- Michael Ferreira 01:12:03
Youth Women: (3 laps)
- Frankie Du Toit 01:01:00
- Alexandra Mapstone 01:07:47
SA National DHI Cup Series #4 – Mankele MTB Park, Mpumalanga – 23 June 2013
Elite Men:
- Timothy Bentley 02:19.50
- Tiaan Odendaal 02:20.87
- Alasdair Fey 02:27.91
- Ryan Frerichs 02:29.10
- Hayden Brown 02:32.59
Elite Women:
- Nadia Botha 04:20.37
Junior Men:
- Andrew Martin 02:28.77
- Jean-Pierre Du Plessis 02:30.28
- Gregg Brown 02:38.16
