James Reid of Team Spur Topeak Ergon will be gunning for a successful title defence with team member Erik Kleinhans at the 2016 FNB W2W MTB Race the weekend of 11 \u2013 13 November 2016. Photo Credit: Craig Kolesky.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cThe decision to race W2W is pretty much made by itself,\u201d says Kleinhans. \u201cApart from it being a big race for the podium, it is also a great event as a whole with some really cool routes, a super relaxing atmosphere and very good organization. Our first objective is always to be on the podium, but naturally we all fight for the top spot. Apart from a stack of motivated SA teams, there will also be some motivated Europeans. My vote however is that our toughest competition will come from the Swiss pairing of Konny Looser and Fabian Giger of the Kross Bikes BiXS Pro Team.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to current SA Elite XCO Champion, James Reid, the added prize purse is also a big incentive. \u201cW2W is a great race on local trails with a really nice vibe. Our team strength will include tactical riding and trail knowledge. The inclusion of more European riders increases the competition. This definitely adds a bit of pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Philip Buys and Arno du Toit of Team Scott LCB Factory Racing<\/strong> will also be gunning for gold. \u201cI\u2019ve taken part in W2W twice, but only for fun during my off season,\u201d says Buys. \u201cThis year the event fits perfectly into my racing season. It\u2019s always a great, fun event to end the year off with. I am really looking forward to the trails.\u201d<\/p>\nDu Toit will celebrate his W2W debut in 2016. \u201cI\u2019ve heard many awesome war stories about W2W and am super happy for the opportunity to take part this year,\u201d says Du Toit. \u201cMy goal will be to ride fast and have a great time. I am also looking forward to finally seeing what all the stories and hype is about.\u201d<\/p>\n
Team USN <\/strong>Purefit<\/strong>\u2019s Darren Lill and Waylon Woolcock are also top contenders for the podium. According to Lill, the route and the vibe make W2W special. \u201cAlthough all three routes are great, Stage Three is my favorite as reaching the sea is really special.\u201d
\u201cThe event\u2019s great reputation and prize purse was a huge drawcard to enter,\u201d admits Woolcock. \u201cTo me W2W is special because it\u2019s so close to home. The routes are challenging, but enjoyable at the same time. I really enjoy Stage One. The portage over Gantouw Pass is something different.\u201d<\/p>\nTeam NAD<\/strong>\u2019s Nico Bell and Gawie Combrinck from Nelspruit Mpumalanga have also set their sights on a podium finish. \u201cConsidering the international competition, a podium finish would be great,\u201d says Bell. \u201cEveryone on the start line will be considered competition.\u201d
\u201cWe enjoy W2W,\u201d says Combrinck. \u201cThe good vibe at the festival village and the fun trails are what make W2W really special. We\u2019ll face tough competition from both local and international riders. Our goal will, however, be to win.\u201d<\/p>\nSouth Africa\u2019s Elites will face tough competition from the following international teams: Team Investec-Songo-Specialized\u2019s Christoph Sauser (Switzerland) with Sam Gaze (New Zealand), Team Bulls\u2019 German pairing of Karl Platt with Simon Stiebjahn, another German pairing of Johannes Fr\u00f6hlinger and Markus Bauer of Team Giant Alpecin Kreidler and Swiss mountain bikers Konny Looser and Fabian Giger of Team BiXS Pro.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The 2016 FNB Wines2Whales (W2W) Mountain Bike (MTB) Race could aptly also be referred to as the \u201cclash of the titans\u201d as elite riders, both local and from abroad, prepare to battle it out on route the weekend of 11 \u2013 13 November 2016. Reigning Champions, Erik Kleinhans and James Reid of Team Spur Topeak […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":39267,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[891,885,404,15],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-17443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-fnb-w2w","tag-fnb-wines2whales","tag-w2w","tag-wines2whales"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17443","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=17443"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17443\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17443"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=17443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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