Western Cape Trailseeker Series battle moves to Grabouw

The second round of the Western Cape Nissan TrailSeeker Series takes place in Grabouw this weekend and will, for the first time form part of the official Cape Winelands Cross-Country Marathon Series. This will be the second year the popular Nissan TrailSeeker Series returns to the trails of Grabouw following a very well received debut in 2015.

The starting roster features some of the big names in South African mountain bike racing with the men’s marathon title in particular sure to be hotly contested.

Among those that have confirmed they’ll be on the start line are SCOTT LCB Factory Racing’s Gert Heyns and Matthys Beukes, both Cape Epic stage winners. Heyns won Round 1 of the series last month and will be eager to build on his points to help in his quest for overall success.

Team Telkom’s HB Kruger has been showing good form lately and will be out to turn recent podium finishes into a solid victory, while USN Purefit’s Waylon Woolcock, Contego’s Adriaan Louw and Momsen’s Dylan Rebello will all be aiming for a top three finish.

Matt Beers (Red-E Cannondale), runner-up to Heyns at Round 1 at Boschendal, will be going all out to secure an important victory on a route that’s deceptively tough, yet incredibly scenic during the Cape winter.

In the women’s marathon, Candice Neethling (Dormakaba) will be looking to repeat her victory at the same event in 2015. Her form is good currently, confirmed by her win in the Ashburton Investments National MTB Series marathon at Van Gaalen recently.

Neethling will start as favourite, with the likes of Carmen Buchacher, Katie Leonard, Hanlie Booyens and Michelle Lombardi all sure to be in the hunt for a podium finish.

The significant popularity of the Nissan TrailSeeker Series lies in the fact that it caters for all riders with the four distances on offer. Each route (70km, 40km, 20km, 10km) is designed to offer participants a distance-appropriate challenge, but not too technical so that there’s a high fun factor.

As usual, the race village will cater well for spectators and offer a relaxing environment for riders and supporters before the start and after the finish. Entries will be available until prior to the start.