Young cyclist wins his second championship title
Cyclist Jooste Coetzee won his second national MTB championships this past weekend and earned his national colours
While a lot of his classmates were enjoying the relaxation and fun that come with the school holidays, local cyclist Jooste Coetzee trained hard for his second national cross-country competition in two months.
It all paid off when he managed to win the title at the UCI South African National Cross Country MTB Championship at a former UCI World Cup track, Cascades mountain-bike park in Pietermaritzburg, on Saturday.
This world-class track features steep uphills, many technical sections with switchbacks and plenty of rock formations. A new track was built to accommodate riders in the nipper and sprog divisions.
Coetzee was seated first in the sprog category, based on his overall championship title obtained during the South African UCI XCO cup series in June. Since the previous championships in Bloemfontein, the young cyclist has spent all his time training for Saturday’s event.
The hard work and commitment were well worth it when he won in an overall time of 38:45, 1:45 ahead of rival Alec Coleske from the Western Cape. Nicholas de Bruin from Gauteng came third in a time of 40:35.
This second win earned Jooste national colours in mountain biking and his second SA Championship title.
Jessica Svacha, who came second overall in the UCI Cross Country Cup series last month, also competed and obtained a fifth position in the sprog division for girls.
Coetzee feels honoured to have competed in both events and thankful for the experience gained. He wished to express his appreciation to his Heavenly Father for blessing him with such a talent, his father Jan Coetzee for always being by his side, Dirk Lourens Cycles for its support, guidance and technical training and Laerskool Malelane and the Onderberg community.
The cyclist is eagerly looking forward to next year’s competitions and would like to encourage other youngsters to participate in the upcoming School Series Spur challenge, which is scheduled to start this coming weekend at Uplands College in White River.
Read about Coetzee and his fellow cyclists’ previous achievements:
• Local mountain biker is SA champ
• Plaaslikes skitter by MTB-byeenkomste
• Young cyclist eyes top spot in MTB series
• Lanies tel onder provisie se top-fietsryers
