The KZNMTB Provincial Enduro and DHI Championships presented by Greg Minnaar Cycles take place at the world-renowned Cascades MTB Park on Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 July. Although many riders choose to ride one or the other, some daredevils enjoy braving both disciplines over two days.
2015 Elite Men’s Champion, Tiaan Odendaal, will be back to defend his titles at the KZNMTB Provincial Enduro and DHI Championships presented by Greg Minnaar Cycles at Casacdes MTB Park on Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 July. Photo credit: Paul Botma
Last year’s Elite Men’s and overall KZN DHI and Enduro Champion, Tiaan Odendaal, will be back to defend his titles this year. “I will be out in full-force. I’m doing both Enduro and Downhill but not focusing on a specific one, just racing my bike as much as I can and having fun while doing it. My main goal is to go and race overseas full-time,” he said.
Although a predominantly Downhill-focused rider, Odendaal has recently struck a fancy to the Enduro discipline as well. “I’ve also received a huge amount of support from Brian Bentley on the Enduro side and I’d just like to say a massive thanks to him,” he said.
Odendaal has taken no side in preference of the disciplines, and says that he would enjoy winning both, although tricky. He said: “Its a tough weekend, as many of the quick Downhill riders don’t do the Enduro, so they get to practice the day before and I don’t. They also aren’t as fatigued as I am from the Enduro the day before, so it’s really tough but its good because it makes it a bit more challenging. I encourage the Downhill guys to try both.”
Sub Veteran and Overall Women’s 2015 KZN Provincial DHI Championship winner, Kathryn Fourie, will also be making a return to the World Championship venue. “Obviously it’s always really a good feeling to win and as a stand alone event, there is a good chance for those who haven’t done as well in the Provincial Series to pull it all out of the bag at one event if they ride well,” she said.
2015 Overall Womens Downhill winner, Kathryn Fourie, hopes for a knock-out track at the KZNMTB Provincial Enduro and DHI Championships presented by Greg Minnaar Cycles at Casacdes MTB Park on Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 July. Photo credit: Paul Botma
Elite Women’s Kim Westbrook, who won’t be competing this year, pipped Fourie at the overall women’s 2015 KZN Provincial Enduro Championship post. Westbrook and Joanne Hicks will be overseas during this time. “Ah, I’ll try my best to go my fastest but without Kim and Jo, quite a bit of the field will be missing unfortunately.
“But Beani (Sabine Thies) will definitely be gunning to win KZN Champs and she has a really good chance of getting it, to be honest,’ she said.
However, Fourie added: “Since it’s likely that it will be an all-new track, said to be super steep, the challenge to learn a new track from scratch puts everyone at a disadvantage. At the very least, this evens the playing field.”
The next event is the once-off 2016 KZNMTB Provincial ENDURO and DOWNHILL Championships – presented by Greg Minnaar Cycles, taking place at Cascades MTB Park in Pietermaritzburg on Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 July respectively. More information and entry details can be found here: http://www.roag.co.za/eventinfo.aspx?EventID=1730
