Junior riders on their way to SA championships
Mankele provides the perfect conditions to host the provincial final of the SPUR Schools MTB series.
On Saturday the cycling team of Hoërskool Lydenburg were crowned overall winners of the Spur Schools MTB series that took place at Mankele. This was the sixth consecutive year that the winning trophy will be displayed in Lydenburg’s lobby.
“It was an awesome event and it was great to see parents and supporters getting fired-up and involved,” said race director of the Spur Schools MTB series, Brett Coates.
The event was the final one in the provincial series and showcased 335 junior riders from across Mpumalanga.
“As the organiser I am very pleased with how things went down, and the increase of support and interest from the local schools,” said Coates.
This year more than 2 000 riders took part in the series showing a significant increase in the amount of junior riders coming out of Mpumalanga.
“When we started in 2010, we had around 850 riders applying to take part in the series, so it’s great to see the sport grow from the fringes to something far more established.”
According to the chairman of Mpumalanga Schools Cycling Association, Francois McGill, the local riders who shone in their respective categories were Armand Lombard and Zandri Strydom, “who have been on absolute fire this season”.
Photos: Mankele Avalanche 2016
Lydenburg’s Simone van Wyk, Bernice van Wyk, Reinhard Viljoen and Rikus Booyens were crowned overall winners in their respective categories and will be part of the team that represents the province at the South African Junior Mountain Bike Champions in Magaliesburg in October.
According to Coates the sport has been growing due to the increased support from schools and school governing bodies.
“In Mpumalanga local riders can now be awarded school colours for mountain biking so there is definitely an active group of people looking to build the sport in the province,” he said.
The riders faced tough conditions on the day, battling high temperatures and tough single-track racing with many obstacles along the way.
“Mankele provides the perfect conditions to host a provincial final. It’s a neutral space for all the riders and the courses, with two-kilometre laps for the sub-juniors and four-kilometre laps for the juniors,” Coates explained.
“It has been a great season for Mpumalanga schools cycling. The quality of the events and riding that I’ve seen has been very encouraging and we are looking forward to take the team from Mpumalanga to Magaliesburg for the South African finals,” said McGill.
