Last Saturday the 3rd leg of the Nissan MTB series was held at Van Gaalens, the location making it one of the big favourites of the series. The course is tough with a fair amount of climbing and lots of rocky technical bits with kilometres of great singletrack in between.
Racing in the Marathon was Stephan Reyneke, growing from strength to strength, Reyneke is proving to be a formidable force in the marathon racing scene. Reyneke placed 6th overall and 1st in the U23 category. “The race was off to a very fast start but I managed to hold on to the leading group. It was Nico Bell and Gawi Combrink splitting the field up the first serious climb..I could see the overall leaders but never managed to catch them again. Hanco Kaggelhoffer and I had a good race to the finish but I managed to wipe out in the second last corner loosing 5th place.”
Throughout the year the youngsters of the academy have become podium regulars at marathon races, Nissan #3 was not an exception. Nicholas Popich came 1st overall in the half marathon with teammate and school friend Jacques Pretorius in 3rd“(2nd junior) Van Gaalens was like a never ending story, although I prayed for the climb to end I wished the last 10km of single track would never end! I'm happy to have won the half marathon.” In the ladies race, Danielle Rheedercame 3rd overall and 2nd Junior. Christine Popich came 15th overall and 3rd youth lady. In the 20km, Azulde Britz came 2nd overall and 2nd Sub Junior “It was an amazing course to ride here and there it was tough but overall it was a great race!”
Something different: Arno Du Toit and Amy McDougall participated in one of the first Enduro events in the country. It was a corporate event and they were invited as one of the 17 Pro Riders for the weekend.
On day 1 they raced a technical 4km route that was mainly downhill with a few sections of hard pedalling. There were berms, a few drops and table tops to keep it interesting. The corporates watched the pros’ exciting race and later on that evening would choose which pro to “buy” for the team event the next day. Du Toit and McDougall both got the quickest time in the seeding run, which meant they were the last riders to start in the men and ladies’ events. Du Toit unfortunately crashed in his race run but he still managed to finish in third. McDougall finished 2nd to Sam Sanders.
Day 2 was a 60km ride where 5 downhill stages were timed and raced by the teams. McDougall won the ladies downhill timed runs and Du Toit placed 2nd to Lourens Luus.
Day 3 was a XC race; a 3km long loop that had to be sprinted. Du Toit won overall in an exciting sprint with Luus and Waylon Woolcock. “Big thanks & thumbs up to @YorkAdventure for hosting a great event over the weekend. It was all about having a good time while still being competitive. Winning the xco showdown was the cherry on the cake for me.”McDougall placed 4th in the XC Race “The event was top class! York Timbers took great care of us and the riding was out of this world. It was so much fun!”
Yolande Speedy is currently racing the PE-Plett 4 day stage race with new teammate Anriette Schoeman. So far they have managed 2nd for the first 3stages but slowly closing the gap to the leading team. We will write more about the event when it’s all done and dusted.
Whatever discipline of mountain biking the Academy members take part in they seem to succeed at it, never without smiles on their faces.
Racing in the Marathon was Stephan Reyneke, growing from strength to strength, Reyneke is proving to be a formidable force in the marathon racing scene. Reyneke placed 6th overall and 1st in the U23 category. “The race was off to a very fast start but I managed to hold on to the leading group. It was Nico Bell and Gawi Combrink splitting the field up the first serious climb..I could see the overall leaders but never managed to catch them again. Hanco Kaggelhoffer and I had a good race to the finish but I managed to wipe out in the second last corner loosing 5th place.”
Throughout the year the youngsters of the academy have become podium regulars at marathon races, Nissan #3 was not an exception. Nicholas Popich came 1st overall in the half marathon with teammate and school friend Jacques Pretorius in 3rd“(2nd junior) Van Gaalens was like a never ending story, although I prayed for the climb to end I wished the last 10km of single track would never end! I'm happy to have won the half marathon.” In the ladies race, Danielle Rheedercame 3rd overall and 2nd Junior. Christine Popich came 15th overall and 3rd youth lady. In the 20km, Azulde Britz came 2nd overall and 2nd Sub Junior “It was an amazing course to ride here and there it was tough but overall it was a great race!”
Something different: Arno Du Toit and Amy McDougall participated in one of the first Enduro events in the country. It was a corporate event and they were invited as one of the 17 Pro Riders for the weekend.
On day 1 they raced a technical 4km route that was mainly downhill with a few sections of hard pedalling. There were berms, a few drops and table tops to keep it interesting. The corporates watched the pros’ exciting race and later on that evening would choose which pro to “buy” for the team event the next day. Du Toit and McDougall both got the quickest time in the seeding run, which meant they were the last riders to start in the men and ladies’ events. Du Toit unfortunately crashed in his race run but he still managed to finish in third. McDougall finished 2nd to Sam Sanders.
Day 2 was a 60km ride where 5 downhill stages were timed and raced by the teams. McDougall won the ladies downhill timed runs and Du Toit placed 2nd to Lourens Luus.
Day 3 was a XC race; a 3km long loop that had to be sprinted. Du Toit won overall in an exciting sprint with Luus and Waylon Woolcock. “Big thanks & thumbs up to @YorkAdventure for hosting a great event over the weekend. It was all about having a good time while still being competitive. Winning the xco showdown was the cherry on the cake for me.”McDougall placed 4th in the XC Race “The event was top class! York Timbers took great care of us and the riding was out of this world. It was so much fun!”
Yolande Speedy is currently racing the PE-Plett 4 day stage race with new teammate Anriette Schoeman. So far they have managed 2nd for the first 3stages but slowly closing the gap to the leading team. We will write more about the event when it’s all done and dusted.
Whatever discipline of mountain biking the Academy members take part in they seem to succeed at it, never without smiles on their faces.
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