{"id":15597,"date":"2019-01-31T09:40:00","date_gmt":"2019-01-31T09:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/2019\/01\/31\/fierce-women39s-field-at-tankwa-trek-r7690\/"},"modified":"2023-02-08T05:30:35","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T05:30:35","slug":"fierce-women39s-field-at-tankwa-trek-r7690","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/fierce-women39s-field-at-tankwa-trek-r7690\/","title":{"rendered":"Fierce women’s field at Tankwa Trek"},"content":{"rendered":"

The iconic 2019 Momentum Health Tankwa Trek presented by Biogen kicks off in just over a week. As one of the first big UCI events of the year riders will be looking to lay down a marker for the season ahead and gain valuable early points in the UCI rankings.<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-60735300-1548927477.jpg\"<\/a>Some action from the 2018 Momentum Health Tankwa Trek presented by Biogen. Photo: www.zcmc.co.za<\/span><\/p>\n

After the recent announcement of a notable men\u2019s field<\/a>, fans will be excited to discover that the women\u2019s event will be no less of an epic throwdown.<\/p>\n

Swiss superstar Ariane Luthi<\/strong> will line up with former South African Cross Country Champion Cherie Redecker<\/strong> for Team Kross-Computer Mania.<\/p>\n

Luthi is a multiple winner of the most gruelling mountain bike stage races in the world, including the Absa Cape Epic, the Momentum Health Cape Pioneer Trek presented by Biogen and the Swiss Epic. With a partner like Redecker, who is renowned for her technical abilities, Luthi seems particularly excited for the Tankwa Trek this year:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is one of the more challenging four-day stage races and a great test of equipment, mental capacity and physical endurance. I love how rough and technical these trails are \u2013 they sure make for a true African experience! Cherie shines on rugged terrain and also has a lot of experience in this area,\u201d said a hopeful Luthi.<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-10628700-1548927472.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

With a strong reverence among her competitors for her fierce marathon racing ability, Luthi will undoubtedly be a target for Swedish rival Jennie Stenerhag<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve done every Tankwa Trek since it started, it\u2019s been really nice to see how it\u2019s grown. Knowing that all four days of racing will be live streamed this year definitely adds an extra dimension and will take the race up a notch. Mariske and I ride really well together – I\u2019m excited to see what we will do,\u201d said Stenerhag.<\/p>\n

The 2017 Cape Epic champion had a quiet 2018 by her own high standards, but looked more determined than ever at the recent Momentum Health Attakwas Extreme presented by Biogen where she came painfully close to victory in a sprint finish.<\/p>\n

As she partners with Mariske Strauss<\/strong> for Silverback Fairtree, local fans will have high hopes of seeing South African hands on the 2019 trophy. Strauss is the reigning National Cross Country Champion and comes into the race off the back of a strong 2018 which saw her and Annie Last take 3rd at the Cape Epic.<\/p>\n

Defending champion Candice Lill<\/strong>, who left Team Dormakaba in April last year to pursue success internationally, also had an impressive 2018 season. She racked up fourth at the Cape Epic with Amy McDougall and second at the South African National Championships \u2013 XCO.<\/p>\n

She will team up with Annie Last<\/strong> \u2013 who made headlines last year when she claimed England\u2019s first ever Commonwealth Games gold medal in women\u2019s Cross Country cycling.<\/p>\n

Team Dormakaba’s leading ladies Sam Sanders<\/strong> and Amy McDougall<\/strong> will present stiff South African competition. McDougall, the defending champion of the Cape Epic\u2019s Absa African Jersey, joined the team in May last year and proved to make a powerhouse pairing with Sanders.<\/p>\n

\u201cI participated in my first Tankwa last year and I had fairly high expectations because of the all the positive things I had heard about the event. All I can say is that it lived up to its reputation! I\u2019m very excited to race it with Amy this year \u2013 our shared love for riding bikes and similar skills makes us a formidable combo\u2026\u201d said Sanders.<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-63390600-1548927474.jpg\"<\/a>Sam Sanders at the 2018 Momentum Health Tankwa Trek presented by Biogen. Photo: www.zcmc.co.za<\/span>
Other South African riders looking to make an early-season statement is the Galileo Risk pair of Sarah Hill<\/strong> and Theresa Ralph<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis race is really important for Theresa and I – every chance we get to race at a UCI level gives us the opportunity to better ourselves, our standard of racing, and our exposure as competitive female South African MTB racers. Slowly we have been climbing the ranks, and in 2019 we expect to take another fantastic step up,\u201d explained Hill.<\/p>\n

Rounding out the women\u2019s event is an international pair of reigning National Champions. The Netherland\u2019s Anne Terpstra<\/strong> and Hungary\u2019s Barbara Benko<\/strong> will certainly add fire to the already heated field of riders as they team up for Ghost Factory Racing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The iconic 2019 Momentum Health Tankwa Trek presented by Biogen kicks off in just over a week. As one of the first big UCI events of the year riders will be looking to lay down a marker for the season ahead and gain valuable early points in the UCI rankings. Some action from the 2018 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":28263,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[94],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-15597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-tankwa-trek"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15597\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15597"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=15597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}