Champ Pushes body and bike to the Max

The former South African National Marathon Champion, Max Knox has won gold in the backbreaking 65 kilometres of the Nkomazi MTB Challenge on Saturday. With an average speed of 25,23 kilometres per hour, he snatched first place in a time of 02:34:36. Over 400 riders flocked to the picturesque Onderberg to take on the adrenalin-infused mountain bike challenge hosted by Malalane Toyota and Laerskool Malelane. The 28-year-old has a series of victories in 2015. He came first in the Garden Route 300 kilometres, Karkloof Classic, Forest2Falls, Mankele Avalanche, Phalaborwa MTB Race and lngwenya Classic. The 25-year-old Alan Gordon finished second, only six minutes behind Knox with JP Jung of Team Bells.LGE Midas in third place in 02:43:43. The first female was Amy Beth MCDougall of Valencia in 03:09:13 with pro-rider Yolandi du Toit of Garmin in second place with 03:15:50. Hoërskool Rob Ferreira’s Franco Pelser lifted the trophy in the 35km race in 01:14:35 and with only in seconds Armand Lombard (Hoërskool Nelspruit) got the silver in 01:14:35. The sub junior, Zandri Strydom, only 14 years old, was the first female rider to cross the finish line in 01:24:43. The 10 kilometres was won by Svacha Benjamin (14) in 28:48 and Jessica Schultz (16) was the winner in the female category in 32:41.
The race has received positive feedback from all involved and will hopefully continue to grow from strength to strength in years to come. Malalane Toyota humbly thanks Carine van der Westhuizen of Laerskool Malelane, Dirk Lourens of Dirk Lourens Cycles, Brett Coates of Valencia and Engen Malalane for the mountain bikes as well as everybody – especially the participants – who contributed to the success of the Nkomazi MTB Challenge.
A further addition to the event in 2016 will be an exciting 19,8-kilometre route. The Malalane community is challenged to promote the Nkomazi MTB for 2016, so that it can rank as one of the best in the Lowveld in future.