Knox and De Groot dominate in mountain series
These two South African champions won in dominant fashion on a tough course at relatively high altitude.
The sixth round of the Ashburton Investments National Mountain Series, took place in Dullstroom a week ago.
Max Knox and Robyn de Groot won the race. These two South African champions won in dominant fashion on a tough course at relatively high altitude.
The full SCOTT LCB Factory Racing team of Gert Heyns, Arno du Toit, Philip Buys and Matthys Beukes ensured the race started fast and split quite early on.
The men’s race was 15km shorter than the 2015 edition at 98km.
It was the fourth Ashburton Investments National MTB Series win in succession for Knox (Lowveld Tractors), who wrapped up the 2016 men’s series title with a perfect score of 16 000. Knox managed to finish in 3 hours 52 minutes 47 seconds.
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According to him everything went perfectly during the race.
“The bunch was a bit smaller but it was a quality field. The SCOTT LCB guys were very positive and pushed the pace hard from the beginning.”
The best five results are used after the seventh and final round to determine the final standings, but with four victories, Knox cannot be beaten, even if someone else wins.
De Groot’s (Ascendis Health) win was her third in the series, putting her in contention to retain the title with a good finish at the final round next month.
Amy Beth McDougall (Valencia), who came second at the weekend, still leads the women’s series with 16 514 points, while Samantha Saunders (Valencia), third at Dullstroom, is a close third on 14960.
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The overall series winners will only be determined at the final round and any of the top-ranked women can take the title at this point.
