SA’s best thrill at MTB Nationals

Mankele’s steep, rugged climbs and rocky downhill sections gave even the most experienced riders a massive challenge during the third leg of the 2015 SA National Mountain Bike Championships on April 25 and 26.

The Cross Country Olympics (XCO) races took place on Saturday with the adrenalin-pumping action never ceasing to amaze the spectators, who cheered the riders on at every opportunity.

Elite men’s cross-country favourite, Phillip Buys, felt the brunt of the course when he fell and sustained a serious shoulder injury early in the race. This led to a visit to the hospital. This left the field wide open, with Alan Hatherly, James Reid and Arno du Toit gunning for first place in this prestigious event. Hatherly got the victory just in front of Reid, with a spectacular ride over the course of seven punishing laps.

The course had numerous elements such as Burry’s Rock Garden and the Tar Killer Climb, which tested both the technical and endurance abilities of the riders.

In the elite women’s section, Mariske Strauss once again dominated with a comfortable two-minute victory over her nearest rival, Candice Neethling.

The subveterans and veterans also had their fun in the blistering sun with Justice Makhale of Exxaro enjoying an incident-free race on his way to a much-expected victory.

Makhale was in a class of his own as he navigated the Triple B and Slippery Snake sections with consummate ease.

The youngsters also thrilled, with fear hardly being a word in their vocabulary as they took on the treacherous climb and scary-looking downhill sections. Francois Annandale took the win in the men’s youth category while Tiffany Keep did the same in the women’s youth division.

On Sunday, downhill mountain bike extremists assembled on top of the mountain for a downhill adventure to see who would be crowned king of the event.

The crowd went crazy with bells, whistles and vuvuzelas cheering the riders on.

Tiaan Odendaal showed why he is number one in this event with a magnificent ride as he pushed his bike through the rocky and slippery gravel slopes. Odendaal was the last rider to take on the course in the race as he had the best time in the preliminary round.

Johann Potgieter set Odendaal a daunting challenge by setting an impressive 2:20.442, but the latter bettered it by a mere three hundreds of a second.

One of the highlights of the downhill event was, Sabine Thies, who was the only woman to compete in and complete the downhill event.

See the pictures of the weekend’s racing here: