Mountain Bike Series off to exciting start
The first race in the Nissan TrailSeeker Mountain Bike Series, which was presented in the east of Pretoria, was full of excitement and tension.
Nico Bell and Theresa Ralph got the 2017 Nissan TrailSeeker Mountain Bike Series off to a victorious start when they won the men and women’s titles respectively at Legends MX, east of Pretoria.
Bell claimed the men’s title in a thrilling four-man sprint, while Ralph was able to secure a fairly comfortable win in the women’s race.
In the men’s race, the pace was fierce from the start on a 67km course that was considered relatively flat and fast. By 30km there was still a lead group of more than 20. But the distance began to take its toll at that high intensity and riders began to slip off the back in the second half.
By the final 10km the lead group was down to five, comprising Bell (Team NAD Pro), Philip Buys (Pyga EuroSteel), Max Knox (New Holland/This Way Out), Arno du Toit (LCB Racing) and Wessel Botha. As the finish drew closer, Botha dropped off, leaving four riders up front.
With 2km remaining, both Bell and Knox took an unexpected tumble when they hit a deep mud patch. They got up quickly and began to chase down Buys and Du Toit who had built up a small lead. With one kilometre remaining, Knox and Bell caught Buys and Du Toit and a sprint finish was inevitable. All four were spent though, Buys and Du Toit from trying to hold their lead and Bell and Knox from chasing them down.
Bell managed to get into the final corner first, ahead of Knox and kept his lead to the finish line with Buys coming past Knox to take second place. Bell’s winning time was 02 hours 25 minutes 21 seconds.
“It’s always hard from the start at these Nissan TrailSeeker races. Everyone is watching each other and it’s a high intensity pace virtually throughout. All our form is quite good ahead of the Epic, so it was quite a close battle right to the end,” said Bell.
In the women’s race Ralph (Galileo Risk) and Vanessa Bell were the early leaders. Bell then suffered a mechanical, which saw her adopt chase mode for the remainder of the race. Ralph kept her pace consistent and avoided any potential problems and held onto her lead to finish first in 2:42:39. Bell was second two minutes later with Adrienne Moolman a distant third.
“It was a very fast and flat route. In the beginning we were a group of four but on the grassy climb, where you needed a kidney belt because it was so bumpy, Vanessa and I got away from the others. We stayed together until she had a mechanical and I then just kept a safe, steady pace to the finish,” said Ralph.
Round two of the Nissan TrailSeeker Gauteng Series takes place on 20 May 2017 at Buffelsdrift, Pretoria North. For more information visit www.trailseekerseries.co.za
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