Lowveld mountain bikers claim national titles

In this past weekend’s fifth series in Bloemfontein, Jooste Coetzee (sprog) and Zandri Strydom (youth) obtained the final and overall championships title.

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The first race took place at Mankele, the second at Helderberg and after that the riders travelled to Pretoria. The fourth one was held in Port Elizabeth before the main event in Bloem.

All five events’ points were taken into consideration to determine SA’s best.

Laerskool Malelane’s Coetzee, was only five points behind Alec Coleske from the Western Cape who eventually finished in third place overall. The course is known for being one of the most technical with a number of up- and downhills, gap jumps and drop-offs. The total length of the track was three kilometres for the nipper and sprog division. Coetzee managed to take the lead from the word go, with Marcel Swarts from the Eastern Cape in second position. It was in the fourth and final lap that the youngster managed to open a gap, taking a 10-second lead and placing first in his division in 42:19.

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Strydom started off two hours later than her teammate, the track being a longer distance of 4,9 kilometres with a total of three laps. She took first place in Pretoria and PE to top the board with a comfortable lead.

She crossed the finish line in 01:00:03, claiming the overall youth women title. Azulde Britz was overall second and Tiffany Keep third.

This is the first national championships title for each of these two promising riders who are also close friends and occasionally get together for a practice run. They will compete in the South African National Championships in Pietermaritzburg, July 16. They will be seated first in their respective categories representing their province.