Valencia Cleans up in Round 2 of the Spur Schools XCO Series

Last weekend, the 3rd round of the XCO Spur School Series took place at Curro College. With the first rains of the Lowveld pending, it was overcast and intermittently drizzly. This did not deter the 300 eager participants. All age categories were well represented and thanks to Derek Putter, the course at Curro was prepared for a stellar day of racing.

The Junior Men’s race was close and exciting; Franco Pelser from Rob Ferreira High pulled a gap on his fellow Valencia teammates: Ryan Clarke (Uplands), Damon Halderman (Hoërskool Bergvlam) and Martin Oosthuizen (Hoërskool Bergvlam) in the second lap. He increased the gap with each lap taking the overall win by 2 minutes. The chasing duo of Ryan Clarke and Damon Halderman finished in an exciting sprint finish, Clark took the win by a split second.

The talented, up and coming Valencia rider, Ryan Terry from Uplands, won the Sub Junior boys race by a notable 4 minutes!

Mandie Swart (Hoërskool Nelspruit) took the win in the Junior Ladies race with Valencia teammate Tyneale Terry of Uplands in 2^nd and Leigh Torre in 3^rd

The Sub Junior girls race was dominated by Valencia’s Monique Swart (Hoërskool Nelspruit) with Kyla Hamer and Stephanie Fritz in 2^nd and 3^rd respectively.

Liam de Klerk (Penryn) and Andreas Kuhn (Uplands) shared gold after a riveting photo sprint finish.

The standard of racing was very impressive in this tough Olympic discipline of mountain biking.

The final race of the series will be held on the 13^th of September at Mankele Bike Park.

Press Release: The Wildevy MTB Challenge

Last Saturday the Wildevy MTB race was held in the small town of Burgersfort for the second year running. Race organisers and owners of Kusile guest house Pieter and Driekie Heyns’ hard work payed off as participants raved about the quality of the riding and vibe of the race. “It is very special and definitely worth your while to go there any weekend, get permission and do them over and over and over… It is clear that the organisers went to a lot of trouble to make it a special event with a big marquis tent to rest our weary limbs. A face cloth to wipe the dust from my face at the finish line is quite original. The food tent that had a stream of “boeries” and pancakes coming the riders way, did a very good job. [Pieter and Driekie] ensured that riders enjoyed great single track and with 300 entrants, it is growing in popularity.” Jan Delport.

In the 35km half marathon, a quartet made up of Franco Pelser, Moima Blessing, Martin Oosthuizen and Reyno Beukes finished within seconds of each other, 8 minutes ahead of the closest contender. Pelser, Oosthuizen and Beukes, all of Team Valencia worked well as a team to maintain the gap on their rivals. In the ladies race, Mandie Swart showed great form by taking the overall win. Tyneale Terry took 9^th overall and 2^nd Junior behind Valencia teammate Mandie Swart.

In the 70km Marathon ladies race, Valencia’s Samantha Sanders came 2^nd to Yolandi Du Toit by a few minutes. Both ladies, who raced in the Marathon World Champs held in Pietermaritzburg a month ago, showed their class coming 9^th and 11^th in the field and beating their nearest competition by just under an hour.

Sanders experimented with the “in between” wheel size, riding her teammate Amy McDougall’s Scott Scale 650B “It is plenty faster out of the corners with a smaller wheel to turn and climbing is definitely easier. The 29er does however out run it on the long flats & of course it rolls over anything!” Says Sanders

In the 20km race, Ryan Terry won the race overall in an impressive time of 46:59, 6 minutes ahead of second place. Monique Swart took gold in the Sub Junior category.

The men’s race finished in a sprint between Lowveld Locals: Nico Bell and Max Knox with Ben-Melt Swannepoel of Heidelberg rounding up the podium.

Drieke and Pieter Heyns will definitely be hosting the Wildevy next year and expect an even bigger field of riders from across the country.