![\"ccs-62657-0-41559700-1472488458.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ccs-62657-0-41559700-1472488458.jpg\")
<\/a>Max Knox and Nico Bell crossing the finish line centimeters apart, with Arno du Toit rounding off the podium. Photo Credit: www.zcmc.co.za<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cWith the shorter distance races like this one, you see the XC specialists in the mix which makes it bit more competitive and adds to the excitement,\u201d said runner-up Bell.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe last few corners were quite sketchy and it was hard to maintain traction at the speed we were coming in. I\u2019ve been a very close second now in the last two races. I need to work on my sprint I guess,\u201d added Bell.<\/p>\n
In the women\u2019s race the sprint was between De Groot (Ascendis Health) and the in-from Samantha Sanders (Valencia), winner of Round 2 of the Nissan TrailSeeker Series. It was De Groot\u2019s first race since May when a crash resulted in surgery to repair an injured shoulder.<\/p>\n
De Groot and Sanders moved clear of the women\u2019s lead pack on one of the few climbs and they paced together to maintain their lead over their rivals, clocking a time of 2:22:55. Theresa Ralph (Galileo Risk) finished third in 2:24:28.<\/p>\n
\u201cGreat to be back racing and see familiar faces again. It was a pretty flat, dusty course, but good to be out there again. Nice to see more competition at the top of the women\u2019s race,\u201d said De Groot.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was good to have Robyn back and her presence certainly helped make the race more exciting,\u201d said Sanders.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was quite a flat route so there was a bunch of us for most of the race. On one climb Robyn and I got a gap, which we held to the end. But while the race was flat, it was still hard. You don\u2019t get any chance to recover really,\u201d added Sanders.<\/p>\n
Close to 2500 mountain bikers competed in the four different distances on offer, with the biggest number in the half-marathon where Wessel Botha and Bonny Swanepoel were the male and female winners respectively.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s always exciting to find new race venues close to home for Gauteng riders. It\u2019s quite flat and fast but there are is some really nice singletrack here too,\u201d said Fritz Pienaar of Advendurance, organisers of the Nissan TrailSeeker Series.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had a lot of riders here participating today and it\u2019s encouraging how many youngster and women there were, which is the great thing about the Nissan TrailSeeker events, which are aimed at giving everyone a chance to enjoy a Saturday morning mountain bike race,\u201d added Pienaar.<\/p>\n Round 4 of the Nissan TrailSeeker Gauteng Series takes place on 1 October 2016 at Buffelsdrift, Pretoria North. To enter, or for more information, visit www.trailseekerseries.co.za<\/a><\/p>\n Overall men \u2013 63km marathon:<\/strong> Overall women \u2013 63km marathon:<\/strong> Overall male \u2013 40km half-marathon<\/strong><\/a>The elite ladies lead by Samantha Sanders, Robyn de Groot, Amy-Beth McDougall and Theresa Ralph. Photo Credit: www.zcmc.co.za<\/span><\/p>\n
Round 3, Legend MX, Pretoria EAST, 27 August 2016<\/strong>
Leading results<\/strong><\/p>\n
1 Max Knox (New Holland Agriculture) 2hrs08min33sec
2 Nico Bell (Team NAD) 2:08:34
3 Arno du Toit (SCOTT LCB Factory Racing) 2:08:35
4 Gawie Combrinck (Team NAD) 2:08:36
5 Jan Withaar 2:08:36
6 Heine Engelbrecht 2:08:40
7 Guylin van den Berg 2:10:31
8 Wessel Redelinghuys 2:11:46
9 Alan Gordon 2:11:48
10 Grant Usher (Kargo Pro) 2:11:52<\/p>\n
1 Robyn de Groot (Ascendis Health) 2:22:55
2 Samantha Sanders (Valencia) 2:22:56
3 Theresa Ralph (Galileo Risk) 2:24:28
4 Amy-Beth McDougall (Valencia) 2:24:40
5 Vanessa Bell (Bells Cycling) 2:24:41
6 Adrienne Moolman 2:31:15
7 Maricel Bekker 2:33:26
8 Kim le Court (Time Freight) 2:35:08
9 Mia van Rooyen 2:38:05
10 Nadine Visage 2:40:20<\/p>\n
1 Wessel Botha 1:25:57
2 Henry Liebenberg 1:26:48
3 Jean-Pierre Lloyd 1:27:01<\/p>\n