Magalies mountain challenges riders
High School mountain bikers from across 60 Gauteng High Schools took on the 5km cross-country course at Hoërskool Wonderboom recently.
The third round of the Spur Gauteng High Schools MTB series, known as the Tour de Wonder, recently took place at Wonderboom Hoërskool, situated against the beautiful Magalies Mountain range in the North of Pretoria.
High School mountain bikers from across 60 Gauteng High Schools took on the 5km cross-country course hand-built by Heinrich Moldenhauer in the Magalies MTB Trails situated in the mountain behind Wonderboom Hoërskool.
The course demanded a fair amount of skills and fitness from the riders. The Magalies MTB Trails is known for its loose sandy corners and rugged terrain and not to forget the endless number of climbs which gets rewarded with a breath taking view overlooking the whole of Pretoria.
The Sub Junior Boys had to complete three laps of the 5km course. They started off the day’s racing with 147 Sub Junior Boys lining up.
Current leader Ian Els from Hoërskool Garsfontein repeated his impressive breakaway Spur Tour de Plaas win at Tour de Wonder to take his second win in this category. Ben du Plessis from Menlopark Hoërskool and Dylan Carrol from Midstream College rounded off the podium.
All the girls categories started together with a two minute gap between each category.
In the Sub Junior girls race the 31 girls had to complete two laps which meant this was going to be fast from the start to get a lead within the first lap. Marjone Strydom from Hoërskool Menlopark did exactly that as she broke away with an impressive lead of 47 seconds over second place’s Somien Botha from Randburg Hoërskool after the first lap. She maintained the lead and took the Sub Junior Girls win once again.
In the Youth 16 girls category the winner was Monique du Toit from Menlopark. She was followed by Robin Stewart from Hoërskool Waterkloof and Christi Marais from Hoërskool Montana finished in the third place.
Thana Groenewald from Midstream College won the junior women category.
The Youth 15 Boys had to complete three laps and boasted with the largest number of entries of 165 riders. The racing in this category was tight as the top three riders were separated by seconds. It came down to a sprint between Jaedon Terlouw from St Albans College and Aaron from Jeppe Boys. Terlouw went on to take the nail-biting sprint finish win.
The Youth 16 Boys category was also dominated by local Pretoria participants. Hennie van Wyk from Garsfontein won the race, followed by fellow Garsfontein pupil, Andreas Schalekamp. Matthiam Hofmann from Waterkloof finished third.
Due to a large number of entries in the Junior Mens category for the 2017 Spur Gauteng Series race, organisers decided to split the category in two start groups – Junior Men 17 and Junior Men 18. This was a great decision as it motivated the junior men even more and made more podium positions possible.
The Junior 17 Men had to complete four laps and delivered strong competitive racing between the top riders. Keagan Bontekoning from Hoërskool Monument won the race, followed by Wicus Breytenbach from Garsfontein.
In the Junior Men 18 group Chad Fikkert from Midstream College took silver, while Estiaan Biewenga from Hoërskool Zwartkop finished third for the bronze medal.
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