Events

Hatherly and Strauss new XCO Champs; Potgieter heads DHI Game

· By Press Office · 0 comments

The 2017 SA National MTB Championships took place at Mankele MTB Park for both cross-country and downhill events on Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 July. Team Spur’s Alan Hatherly grabbed the Elite Men’s XCO title, and the Women’s race win went to Mariske Strauss. The fastest down the hill on Sunday was Johann “Pottie” Potgieter.

Team Spur’s Hatherly consistently drove the ace to remain in the front of the race from start to finish, claiming the title after seven laps in a time of one hour and 19:30 minutes. He was well clear of second placed rider Philip Buys by over a minute, with Matthys Beukes claiming the bronze medal.

ccs-62657-0-72802300-1501073968.jpgTeam Spur’s Hatherly consistently drove the ace to remain in the front of the race from start to finish, claiming the Elite Men’s title after seven laps at the 2017 SA National XCO Championships at Mankele MTB Park on Saturday 22 July. Photo: Memories 4 U Photography Facebook Page.

In Team Spur’s Race Report, Hatherly mentioned how thrilled he was with his win, having been trying to grab it for the past three years.He also mentioned the extreme heat on the course, and that he took in more fluids than usual to keep up his power to the end.

For OMX Pro Team’s Strauss in the women’s race, it was an equally dominant performance as she completed her six laps in a time of one hour and 22:27 minutes. The race between Cherise Redecker and Amy McDougall was a tussle until Redecker picked up her pace on the fourth lap to secure the silver medal and McDougall the bronze.

Strauss said: “The race was super – I’m glad to be back on form. After being sick I didn’t know what to expect so I started off easy and wound it up. It was so smooth, my bike was an absolute delight and the track was amazing. Thank you to everyone involved. I cannot believe the cross-country season is already over.”

ccs-62657-0-65051700-1501073966.jpgOMX Pro Team’s Mariske Strauss was “super chuffed” with her Elite Women’s victory at the 2017 SA National XCO Championships at Mankele MTB Park on Saturday 22 July. Photo: Memories 4 U Photography Facebook Page

Julian Jessop and Frankie du Toit claimed the U23 races. The Youth and Junior Men also gave us super exciting racing, where any one of the top four or five could have taken the wins. Tiffany Keep won the Junior Women’s race, and Johan Trotzky held it together to win the Junior Men’s race where only two seconds separated the top three times. Zandri Strydom and Daniel van der Walt won the Youth categories.

On Sunday, Johan Pottie Potgieter (YT-Industries and Dragon Energy) absolutely blitzed the trails to become the newly crowned National Downhill Champ in a time of two minutes and 17 seconds, ahead of 2016 Champion Stefan Garlicki in second and Christopher Philogene in third. “Looking back at my season as a whole, the SA Champs was my main goal. I had been happy with my performances in Europe as well. It was a different feeling being at home – you know. You could be in contention to win it. I was super nervous about it,” he said.

ccs-62657-0-99912900-1501073964.jpgJohann “Pottie” Potgieter gave an excellent performance and cruised to victory ahead of Stefan Garlicki (left) and Christopher Philogene (right) at the 2017 SA National DHI Championships at Mankele MTB Park on Sunday 23 July. Photo: Supplied.

Having been in the game for some time now, Potgieter said: “I’m a bit older now and a bit more experienced so I just tried to keep myself calm and not push too hard. It could cost you a lot of time because on a course like Mankele its easy to make a mistake.”

Potgieter gave it his all on the course, and after seeding first was elated with his final run as a whole. “I was just super happy and very relieved. This was the fourth National title to my name, but the first in seven years. I was happy to prove to myself that I could do it again. I was very happy about it. I’m over the moon – I can’t believe it, its still sinking in.”

The women’s race was won by youth rider Zandri Strydom, who did the double after winning the XCO on Saturday.

For more information about the 2017 SA National MTB Championships, click here: https://www.cyclingsa.com/2017-sa-mtb-champs/

SUMMARY OF RESULTS FROM THE 2017 SA NATIONAL MTB CHAMPS XCO (Saturday 22 July)

Elite Men (7 laps)
1.Alan Hatherly 01.19.30
2.Philip Buys 01.20.44
3. Matthys Beukes 01.21.35

Elite Women (6 laps)
1.Mariske Strauss 01.22.27
2.Cherie Redecker 01.23.14
3. Amy Mcdougall 01.25.37

Men U-23 (6 laps)
1.Julian Jessop 01.13.27
2.Franco Pelser 01.14.28
3.Henry Liebenberg 01.14.54

Women U-23 (5 laps)
1.Frances Du Toit 01.12.01
2.Bianca Haw 01.12.52
3.Julia Kotze 01.22.18

Junior Men (5 laps)
1.Johann Trotzky 01.05.55
2.Pieter Du Toit 01.05.55
3. Dawie Grobbelaar 01.05.57

Junior Women (4 laps)
1.Tiffany Keep 00.59.46
2.Danielle Strydom 01.01.28
3.Allison Morton 01.07.25

Sub Junior Boys (3 laps)
1. Ian Els 00.42.19
2.Aidan Penfold 00.42.51
3.Justin Chesterton 00.44.02

Sub Junior Girls (2 laps)
1.Chloe Bateson 00.32.05
2.Chante Olivier 00.32.15
3.Marjoné Strydom 00.36.26

Youth Men (4 laps)
1.Daniel Van Der Walt 00.50.20
2.Jamie Penfold 00.51.10
3.Luke Moir 00.52.11

Youth Women (3 laps)
1.Zandri Strydom 00.43.11
2. Emma Van Coller 00.48.13
3.Megan Bircher 00.50.10

Veteran Men (4 laps)
1.Nico Pfitzenmaier 00.52.41
2.Grant Usher 00.53.15
3.Mark Moir 00.54.21

Veteran Women (4 laps)
1.Natalie Bergström 01.02.37
2.Theresa Ralph 01.08.05
3.Yvonne Cornes 01.03.59 (3 laps)

Sub Vet Men (5 laps)
1.Brand Du Plessis 01.03.22
2.Dan Fowler 01.04.27
3.Dion Froneman 01.06.01

Master Men (3 laps)
1.Alan Van Coller 00.42.43
2.Jimmy Mills 00.47.26
3.Dirk Maarsingh 00.47.57

Grand Master Men (2 laps)
1.Colin Gibbings 00.34.38
2.Charles Stander 00.34.46

Sprog Boys (4 laps)
1.Alec Coleske 00.41.49
2. Ernest Roets 00.43.06
3.Hendre De Villiers 00.43.28

Sprog Girls (3 laps)
1.Lilian Baber 00.35.37
2.Olivia Penfold 00.36.25
3.Emily Van Heerden 00.37.21

Nipper Boys (3 laps)
1.Alessandro Fanicchi 00.33.49
2.Luca Zietsman 00.34.31
3.Gustav Dirk-Roller 00.35.12

Nipper Girls (2 laps)
1.Hannah Elliott 00.25.36
2.Danel De Jager 00.26.58
3.Megan Botha 00.27.42

To see the full set of results, click here: https://www.cyclingsa.com/s/20170722_SA-XCO-Championships-2017-Results-1.pdf

SUMMARY OF RESULTS FROM THE 2017 SA NATIONAL MTB CHAMPS DHI (Sunday 23 July)

Overall (Top 10)

1.Johann Potgieter 02:17.991 (Elite Men)
2.Stefan Garlicki 02:20.231 (Elite Men)
3.Christopher Philogene 02:20.815 (Elite Men)
4.Jonathan Philogene 02:24.089 (Elite Men)
5.Struan McMaster 02:33.769 (Elite Men)
6.Cullen McMaster 02:33.881 (Junior Men)
7.Niko Velasco 02:34.055 (Junior Men)
8. Sharjah Jonsson 02:35.929 (Junior Men)
9.Dylan Williams 02:38.521 (Elite Men)
10. Jasper Barrett 02:40.901 (Youth Men)

18. Zandri Strydom 03:11.293 (Youth Women)

To see the full set of results, click here: https://www.cyclingsa.com/s/20170723_SA-DHI-Champs-2017-Results-1.pdf

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