Young cyclist eyeing top spot in MTB series
A local mountain bike rider is currently seated second in South Africa in the SA Cross Country Mountain Bike Cup series and is eyeing the top spot.
Jooste Coetzee, a pupil of Laerskool Malelane, has already participated in four of the five races: Mankele, Somerset-West, Pretoria and Port Elizabeth. He obtained gold in the Pretoria race and came second in the three others, putting him in second place, just five points behind Alec Colesky from the Western Cape.
The final event will take place in Bloemfontein on June 18, followed by the SA Championships on July 16 in Pietermaritzburg. Jooste will compete for his SA Colours and hopes to better his time of last year, when he got an overall fourth place.
Apart from the national events, Jooste is currently seated first in the province and busy with the Mpumalanga Cross Country Championship. The final will take place this weekend at Mankele Mountain Bike Park outside Mbombela.
Three other Onderberg cyclists, Waldo Potgieter, Franco Kritzinger and Jessica Schvaca, are also competing in the same series.
Jessica is currently in first place among the girls, with Waldo second in the sprog category and Franco third in the sub-junior category. Laerskool Malelane riders also competing are Bartel Herbst, Armandt Hatting, Henk Bezuidenhout, Abigail Lourens and Kaylin Coetzee.
Jooste already has quite a number of titles behind his name and takes great pride in his love of the sport. He believes that by staying humble and not letting the sport go to your head, you will achieve great success in life.
The cyclist encourages youngsters in the Onderberg area to consider taking part in the Spur School Series, which is scheduled to start after the Mpumalanga Cross Country Championship.
Jooste would like to thank Dirk Lourens Cycles for its support which contributes to his success, as well as his parents, Laerskool Malelane and his heavenly Father.
