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Saturday saw a couple of Limpopo youngsters taking part in the Stihl 2016 National XCO Championships at Cascades Bike Park in Pietermaritzburg. Among them were (from left to right) Marno van Zyl and Richard Lambert from Louis Trichardt High School and Dawie Grobbelaar from Vaalwater. Van Zyl managed a 22nd overall place in the Junior Men category, with Grobbelaar and Lambert finishing ninth and eleventh respectively overall in the Youth Men category. Photo supplied.

Tough challenge at SA XCO

 

The past weekend saw more than 200 of the country’s top mountain bikers taking part in the Stihl 2016 National XCO Championships at Cascades Bike Park in Pietermaritzburg.

The event, hosted under the auspices of Cycling South Africa, also saw a couple of young riders from Louis Trichardt competing.

Richard Lambert and Marno van Zyl, both members of Louis Trichardt High School’s mountain-biking team, took to the road before dawn last Thursday. “There was not much time to rest. When we reached Pietermaritzburg that afternoon, the boys were on their bikes, doing an inspection ride of the track,” said Stanley Thompson from the Limpopo Schools Cycling Association, who accompanied them. Along the way, they picked up Dawie Grobbelaar in Pretoria, another young provincial cycling star from Frikkie Meyer High School in Thabazimbi.

Friday saw the boys getting in some more practice and getting their bikes ready for race day on Saturday, 16 July.

Lambert and Grobbelaar were up first, competing in the Youth Men category. At national level, pre-race seeding is everything, with Grobbelaar starting the race in fifth place and Lambert in fifteenth position. They had to complete four gruelling 4.2km laps.

The race saw Grobbelaar dropping a couple of places after two falls, but still managing a top-10 finish, in ninth position, in an overall time of 01:05:39. Lambert, on the other hand, steadily made his way up the field, finishing in 11th position overall in a time of 01:08:01 out of a field of 36 riders.

Van Zyl was seeded 31st out of a field of 33 riders at the start of his five 4.2km laps Junior Men's race. By the second round he was placed 28th. “I told the guys just to concentrate and to work their way up the field one position per lap at a time,” said Thompson. Despite also taking a tumble in his race, Van Zyl kept on working his way up the field, eventually finishing 22nd overall in a time of 01:14:04.

The event also saw numerous other promising young riders from across Limpopo compete and doing exceptionally well. Young Marli Nel from Oosskool in Polokwane walked away a series winner in the Nipper Girls category, having competed and finishing well in all but one of the six national rounds. She finished third overall during the past weekend’s race. Sister Simoné, also from Oosskool, also looked set to do well the past weekend but had to withdraw from the race, following a fall on her practice lap on Friday.

Two other young Oosskool-riders, Amelie Owens and Tashane Ehlers, also competed in the Nipper Girls category, with Owens finishing fourth overall and Ehlers ending ninth in her first ever national event. Owens’ twin brother, young Henry, mirrored his sisters’ performance, finishing fourth in the Nipper Boys category.

The Baber-family from Vaalwater were also well represented. Ben Baber finished 35th in the Youth Men category, while brother Josh finished 15th overall in the Sub Junior Boys category. It was, however, sister Lilian who outperformed her brothers in the national series, finishing top of the log in the Sprog Girls category. Of all the national races, she finished all but one and that was on Saturday when she had to retire from the race as a result of illness.

Another very young cyclist who deserves to be congratulated for his performance on Saturday is Hanro Ehlers, also from Oosskool. Although he is only U/6, he competes in the U/10 Nipper Boys category, managing a ninth place on Saturday.   

“The main aim off getting the youngsters to compete was to give them exposure on a higher level. They have now seen what ‘rough’ is. Now they come back to Limpopo and it’s not rough anymore. Then they become competitive. Ultimately, they also get SA ranking,” said Thompson with regard to the upcoming Limpopo cycling league.

Overall, Thompson said, the local youngsters look set to make a major impact on the upcoming Limpopo cycling league. “We are going to have ‘performing’ riders in this year’s league, both from the riders who completed the cycling training camp last week, and those who competed in Pietermaritzburg,” said Thompson.  

This weekend (23rd) will see the first of the Limpopo XCO series races being decided at Phalaborwa, the Tour de Gat. This will be followed by the Tour de Lake at Stanford Lake College on 13 August, the Tour de Pot at Mokopane on 3 September and the Tour de Lip on 17 September, hosted by High School Louis Trichardt.

To see what the riders were up against in Pietermaritzburg, readers can go and check out the 2016 SA MTB Champs XCO Course Preview (www.youtube.com/results?search_query=2016+sa+champs+xco+course+preview) on Youtube, compiled by top SA female cyclists Mariske Strauss and Cherie Vale. Strauss won the Elite Women's category on Saturday with Vale in second place.  

Sport - Date: 23 July 2016

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Young Marli Nel (left) from Oosskool in Polokwane walked away a series winner in the Nipper Girls category, having competed and finishing well in all but one of the six national rounds. Sister Simoné (right), also from Oosskool, also looked set to do well the past weekend, but had to withdraw from the race after a fall on her practice lap on Friday. Photo supplied.

Two other young Oosskool-riders, Amelie Owens (left) and Tashane Ehlers (right), also competed in the Nipper Girls category, with Owens finishing fourth overall and Ehlers ending ninth in her first ever national event. Photo supplied.

Henry Owens from Oosskool mirrored his sisters’ performance, finishing fourth in the Nipper Boys category. Photo supplied.

The Baber-family from Vaalwater were also well represented. Ben Baber finished 35th in the Youth Men category, while brother Josh finished 15th overall in the Sub Junior Boys category. It was, however, sister Lilian who outperformed her brothers in the national series, finishing top of the log in the Sprog Girls category. From left to right are Ben, dad David, Josh and Lilian. Photo supplied.

Another very young cyclist who deserves to be congratulated for his performance on Saturday is Hanro Ehlers, also from Oosskool. Although he is only U/6, he competes in the U/10 Nipper Boys category, managing a ninth place on Saturday. Photo supplied.

 

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Andries van Zyl

Andries joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in April 1993 as a darkroom assistant. Within a couple of months he moved over to the production side of the newspaper and eventually doubled as a reporter. In 1995 he left the newspaper group and travelled overseas for a couple of months. In 1996, Andries rejoined the Zoutpansberger as a reporter. In August 2002, he was appointed as News Editor of the Zoutpansberger, a position he holds until today.

Email: [email protected]

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