![\"ccs-41808-0-63977600-1392886031.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ccs-41808-0-63977600-1392886031.jpg\")
<\/a> Image credit: Gavin Ryan\/Gameplan Media<\/span>\n<\/div>\nTeam star Rourke Croeser claimed the overall spoils after cantering to victory in the elite men\u2019s clash while fast-developing under-23 talent Travis Walker won his age group\u2019s title and was the second across the line shortly ahead of Kargo team mate and Croeser\u2019s fellow elite competitor Stuart Marais.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s always nice to get a win under the belt and they all help keep the confidence up,\u201d said Croeser. I try to treat every event the same so that there isn\u2019t any added pressure when the really big races come around and I also look to try learn something new every time I race, and I did both these this past weekend so I was really happy. I went into the race really tired after one of my toughest weeks of training ever so I knew beforehand that it was going to be tough and I was going to hurt but that\u2019s just all part of it. I sat with Trav (Walker) for the first three laps and then got a bit of a gap so I rode at my own pace through top the finish. I didn\u2019t push too hard but it still was a really good training session for me as you can\u2019t ever really fully replicate a race environment in training,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Having looked to mix it up with Croeser for much of the early part of the encounter, Walker then struggled a touch in the middle of the race before he picked things up towards the end and raced home to claim the spoils ahead of under-23 first year Dylan Rebello of Team Jeep.<\/p>\n
\u201cI missed one of my feeds so I really battled for a little bit and so fell off the pace a little. Once I got going again though I felt pretty good and it was good to get the under-23 win,\u201d said Walker. “I raced Dylan Rebello at African Champs and he beat me so, with him down from Pretoria, it was nice to put six minutes into him this past weekend and get some confidence back,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
With Marias having rounded out the team\u2019s one, two, three and finishing second in the elite men\u2019s race ahead of third place Tyron Bird of X10siv\/Sound Mechanix, fellow Kargo Pro MTB rider Siyabonga Njiva put in comfortably his best effort of the year when he crossed the line seventh in the elite men\u2019s clash.<\/p>\n
The venue in Pinetown\u2019s Westmead was the ideal stage for the contest\u2019s action to unfold and the team\u2019s good form bodes well for their tough upcoming Western Cape assignment which will see them take on some of the globe\u2019s top XCO stars at the UCI category 2 event to be held by Western Cape MTB on 8 March.<\/p>\n