{"id":16871,"date":"2017-04-05T11:05:00","date_gmt":"2017-04-05T10:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/2017\/04\/05\/the-two-day-national-mountain-bike-series-show-heads-to-clarens-r6385\/"},"modified":"2023-02-08T06:59:33","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T06:59:33","slug":"the-two-day-national-mountain-bike-series-show-heads-to-clarens-r6385","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/the-two-day-national-mountain-bike-series-show-heads-to-clarens-r6385\/","title":{"rendered":"The two-day National Mountain Bike Series show heads to Clarens"},"content":{"rendered":"

South African towns don\u2019t come more quaint that Clarens in the Eastern Free State. But with that quaint factor comes dollops of stimulating mountain biking in the Rooiberg mountain range that offers plenty of challenge and even more reward. For 2017, the Clarens round of the Ashburton Investments National MTB Series sees the continuation of the new two-day racing format, which is sure to be a success.<\/p>\n

\"ccs-58780-0-37332100-1491390166.jpg\"<\/a>The scenic trails of Clarens make the 3rd round of the Ashburton Investments National MTB Series a yearly favourite. Photo Credit: www.zcmc.co.za<\/span><\/p>\n

The two-day format also makes the Ashburton Investments National MTB Series events more attractive as a weekend-away trip, with the additional events on the Saturday (20km Fun Race) and Sunday (10km Fun Ride) offering all mountain bikers, no matter what level or age, an opportunity to enjoy mountain biking on well marked and managed routes at some of South Africa\u2019s most beautiful towns.<\/p>\n

After three rounds 2016 National Marathon champion, Max Knox (New Holland\/This Way Out), leads the men\u2019s series rankings. His second place at Round 1 and two stage wins and the overall win at Round 2 give him 11853 points. Nico Bell (Team NAD Pro) is second on 10857 points with Gert Heyns (Ascendis Health) in third on 10516 points.<\/p>\n

All three will be at Clarens, as well as Gawie Combrinck (Team NAD Pro) and the Pyga EuroSteel team of Phil Buys and Matthys Beukes.<\/p>\n

\u201cClarens is one of the best venues and most scenic tracks of the Ashburton Investments National MTB Series. I\u2019m looking forward to racing the new two-day format there. Obviously, after the Cape Epic, everyone is a little tired. So I think whoever recovers best and has good legs for both days will win. I\u2019m feeling healthy and strong after the Epic, but we\u2019ll see how I feel at race pace! It\u2019s important for me to have two solid stages so that I can build on my overall standings points,\u201d said Knox, who was fourth overall at the Cape Epic.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really enjoy the trails there and the altitude makes it challenging! Gawie finished second at Clarens last year and I was fourth. After a disappointing Cape Epic we are looking to do well at Clarens,\u201d said Bell.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m looking forward to the race. We’ve always done well there, but it’s going to be hard so close to Cape Epic,\u201d said Combrinck.<\/p>\n

\u201cMatthys and I will both be taking part. It will be our first race after Epic and our focus leading up to Clarens will be to recover from Epic and stay healthy,\u201d said Buys.<\/p>\n

Heyns is one of the few top male entrants that didn\u2019t do the Cape Epic. He will obviously be fresher than his rivals and could well have a physical and psychological advantage because of this.<\/p>\n

\"ccs-58780-0-62036900-1491390167.jpg\"<\/a>Max Knox tight on the heels of the Team NAD riders, Nico Bell and Gawie Combrinck at last year’s Ashburton Investments National MTB in Clarens. All three riders will be pushing for podium positions this weekend. Photo Credit: www.zcmc.co.za<\/span><\/p>\n

In the women\u2019s category, series leader, Robyn de Groot (Ascendis Health) will start as the favourite. A series of bad luck incidents put paid to her Cape Epic victory hopes, but a good result at Clarens will go some way to giving the South African champion reason to smile.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be honest, I\u2019m still getting used to this new two-day format. It is an exciting format and I always look forward to racing no matter what. \u201d added De Groot.<\/p>\n

Sure to challenge De Groot is Amy Beth McDougall (Valencia), who was a close second to De Groot at Round 1 in Sabie and who has come off the Cape Epic with a runner-up finish in the Mixed category.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, I\u2019m uncertain as to what the Epic has done to me but I\u2019m looking forward to the trails at Clarens. The venue is always one of my favourites,\u201d said McDougall.<\/p>\n

\"ccs-58780-0-04711900-1491390339.jpg\"<\/a>Robyn de Groot leading Candice Lill and Samantha Sanders at the 2016 edition of the Ashburton Investments National MTB Series Clarens. 3 Elite women who will be aiming for podium positions this weekend.Photo Credit: www.zcmc.co.za<\/span><\/p>\n

Also tackling the Clarens round with Cape-Epic legs are Samantha Sanders (Valenica) and Theresa Ralph (Galileo Risk). Vanessa Bell (Bells Cycling) will have fresh legs, as she didn\u2019t race the Cape Epic and looking forward to a good race.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m looking forward to the event \u2013 one of my favourite races of the year. My form is coming along nicely and I hope that the strong ladies field that was at the Epic this year will be there too. Its\u2019 always great to have a stronger ladies field so that you push yourself that much harder.\u201d said Bell.<\/p>\n

Candice Lill and Vera Adrian of Team dormakaba, who completed their first Cape Epic, are also on the start list for what should be a hotly contested women\u2019s race.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have competed at the Clarens round of the Ashburton Investments National MTB Series since I was a junior and I have such good memories of the town, the rock formations we race through and the rad singletrack. I have no doubt there will be some strong ladies and big names to race against, but I like a challenge,\u201d added Lill.<\/p>\n

At 1800 metres above sea level (200 metres higher than Johannesburg), Clarens is considered an altitude-racing venue, which has more impact on the riders that don\u2019t live and train in Johannesburg and Pretoria.<\/p>\n

For the competitive participants doing the two-day format Marathon event, Stage 1 is a 70km route with 1073 metres of ascent, while Stage 2 is 57km long with 1075m of elevation. Much of the route on Stage 1 will use the Titanic Trail, while Stage 2 will incorporate large sections of the Porcupine Trail. Both trails are a legacy of previous editions of the Ashburton Investments National MTB Series and are now used to help attract mountain bikers to the town all year round.<\/p>\n

For the Half-marathon event competitors, Saturday\u2019s distance is 40km and Sunday\u2019s stage is 35km. There are also Single Day race options for 70km and 40km on Saturday (no points and no prize money for these). Also on Saturday is the 20km Fun Race and on Sunday the 10km Fun Ride.<\/p>\n

\nProgramme<\/strong><\/p>\n

Venue: Town Square, Main Street, Clarens<\/strong>
Saturday 8 April<\/strong>
06h00-09h15: Registration and late entries
07h30: 70km Marathon (Stage 1) & Single Day
09h00: 40km Half-marathon (Stage 1) & Single Day
09h35: 20km Fun Race
11h00: Preliminary results Day 1 posted
12h00: Fun Race Prize Giving
Sunday 9 April<\/strong>
06H30\u201309h10: Race office open & 10km Fun Ride registration
07h30: 56km Marathon (Stage 2)
09h00: 35km Half-marathon (Stage 2)
09h20: 10km Fun Ride
11h00: Preliminary results Day 2 posted
12h00: Prize giving (Day 2 and Overall)\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Entries are still open and can be done online at www.nationalmtbseries.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South African towns don\u2019t come more quaint that Clarens in the Eastern Free State. But with that quaint factor comes dollops of stimulating mountain biking in the Rooiberg mountain range that offers plenty of challenge and even more reward. For 2017, the Clarens round of the Ashburton Investments National MTB Series sees the continuation of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":36568,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1523,1494,904],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-16871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-ashburton-investments-nationa","tag-clarens","tag-national-mtb-series"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16871","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=16871"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16871\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16871"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=16871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}