![\"ccs-58780-0-26577800-1479374612.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ccs-58780-0-26577800-1479374612.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Alan Hatherly has enjoyed a remarkable year in the saddle in 2016 and hopes to cap off the year by securing a second consecutive victory in the 40km MTB event of the 2016 STIHL Sharks Trail Adventure on Sunday 4 December. Photo credit: TCM Photography\/ Gameplan Media<\/span>\n<\/div>\nAfter putting in a stirring effort at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in August, the 20 year-old sensation hopes a successful title defence at the upcoming Sharks Trail Adventure clash will cap off a memorable year in his rapidly advancing career before he makes the move down to the Western Cape before at the end of the calendar year.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year\u2019s Sharks Trail Adventure was my first time at the race and it really was a great event,\u201d says Hatherly. \u201cStu Berry and his Impi team know how to put on a proper event!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEven though I\u2019m from Hillcrest, I\u2019d never ridden through that area before and so it was really cool to be exposed to a whole new trail network out in the Shongweni area.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would love to win this year\u2019s race and keep my title, especially as I look to start a new relationship with a new sponsor as of the new season,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n
While the end of the year traditionally represents some down time for the country\u2019s top elite mountain bikers, Hatherly\u2019s schedule saw a return to the saddle three weeks ago and the young star is eager to use the upcoming event as an early new gauge.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince my break it\u2019s been all about strength work and building a base for the rest of the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere won\u2019t be a lot of leg speed in me come the Sharks Trail Adventure so it definitely won\u2019t be the fastest race of my year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will be a great form tester early in the season though and a good opportunity to see just how much of a building block I\u2019ve managed to put in place during the past couple of weeks of training.\u201d<\/p>\n
A star studded field at the 2015 edition of the mountain biking and trail running event saw Hatherly charge home 44 seconds ahead of TIB Insurance\u2019s Andrew Hill while Brendon Davids finished third.<\/p>\n
The result saw Hatherly become just the second name added to the event\u2019s men\u2019s winners list after Hill\u2019s dominance from 2012 to 2014.<\/p>\n
The former Hillcrest High School pupil will be hoping the list\u2019s length remains the same come the completion of the 2016 encounter as he goes in search of a second consecutive title at the versatile 40km contest.<\/p>\n
The 2016 STIHL Sharks Trail Adventure takes place at Summverld Estate in Shongweni on Sunday 4 December. Entries can be submitted online via www.roag.co.za<\/a> and more information can be found at www.sharkstrailadventure.co.za<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Olympian Alan Hatherly is looking forward to returning to the 2016 STIHL Sharks Trail Adventure at Shongweni Estate on Sunday 4 December in an effort to defend the 40km MTB title he claimed at his maiden appearance at the popular Upper Highway race twelve months ago. Alan Hatherly has enjoyed a remarkable year in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":39027,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[134,2031,1970],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-17371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-alan-hatherly","tag-sharks-trail-adventure","tag-stihl-sharks-trail-adventure"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17371","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=17371"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17371\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39027"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17371"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=17371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}