Local riders perform well on technical course in Gauteng
The South African Cross-country Championships took place on Saturday in Gauteng at the very technical Thaba Trials A course that was laid out to put riders' skill and power to the test.
Mpumalanga had more than 15 riders who competeted in the various age categories.
Defending champion, Samantha Sanders of Valencia was clearly the favourite but Lady Luck proved not to be on her side as a great start was spoiled when she had a side-wall puncher and was forced to run more than 4km to the technical zone. There she got a new wheel but by then she had lost too much time and could only manage sixth place.
Mpumalanga received two silver medals – one by subveteran, Mark Meyer of Mankele and a very promising youngster, Jean van der Merwe.
More needs to be said about this very well-mannered humble kid who fought for his position after a bad start and kept his cool to finish second.
“People seem to forget that SA champs is a very big deal so just finishing the event is a great achievement on its own.
The province is also very happy with the fact that we have young men who show great potential in Liam de Klerk (Cycle Lab) and Andreas Kuhn (LGE, Bells Cycling).
Both these riders rode like stars and finished fourth and fifth respectively in the biggest category of the day,” said team manager Bosseau Boshoff.
