Cycling South Africa’s Mike Bradley has joined local organisers in urging all South African mountain bikers to take advantage of the once in a life time opportunity this year’s UCI MTB Masters World Championships presents and ensure they submit their entry before the 31 July 2013 deadline.<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Photo: Supplied\/Gameplan Media<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n With the masters and elite world champs having been staged at separate venues and at different times of the calendar in years gone by, this year\u2019s masters competition taking place at the same venue and just days before the UCI MTB & Trials World Championships, is a revolutionary concept for the sport with it also being the first time ever the competitions have ever been staged on African soil.<\/p>\n With the event unlikely to return to South African shores anytime in the near future, South African mountain bikers are urged to take advantage of this golden opportunity to take part in the annual pinnacle of the masters MTB calendar.<\/p>\n \u201cThis really is a once in a life time opportunity for South African riders!\u201d said Cycling South Africa\u2019s General Manager, Mike Bradley.<\/p>\n \u201cThe vibe at this year\u2019s event will be awesome and there are already many international entries that have been submitted so why not come to Pietermaritzburg and test yourself against international riders of your same age category right here at home?\u201d<\/p>\n As entries continue to stream in, predictably the hosts \u2013 South Africa \u2013 make up the greatest number with over three hundred and thirty local riders already set to take advantage of the home turf advantage.<\/p>\n One of the first locals to add his name to the list of entries was Kloof stalwart Garth Schonewolf. A former MotoX racer, Schonewolf has now immersed himself into the world of MTB cross country riding and is expected to be right up at the front of his men\u2019s 45-49 year old age group.<\/p>\n \u201cIt really is a special opportunity for us local riders,\u201d said Schonewolf. \u201cAny other year it will cost you huge amounts of money to go to the MTB World Champs, whereas now it is right in your own back yard! There was just no way I was going to miss out!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAny rider who is passionate about this sport will want to be part of an event of this significance,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n He also said that he expected the standard of racing to be exceptionally high, and that the Cascades MTB park layout would prove to be taxing for all.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s cross country racing and the truth is anything can happen. Someone can be lying fifth and suddenly find themselves in the lead. Things just happen that often.<\/p>\n Time is ticking! Men’s 45-49 cross country title hopeful Garth Schonewolf has encouraged all his fellow South African mountain bikers as well as their international enthusiasts to ensure they get their entry in for the UCI MTB Masters World Championships before the 31 July 2013 deadline.<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Photo: Dave Macleod\/Gameplan Media<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe Cascades layout will also play it\u2019s part. Your XCO skills will need to be up to scratch,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Schonewolf said that the pricing of the event may be different to many local races, but added that once riders understood that it was based on an 80 Euros entry fee, they were better able to look at entering especially given the entry for the previous Masters World Championships was 200 Euros per rider.<\/p>\n Preparations are well underway in South Africa\u2019s \u2018Cycle City\u2019 ahead of the international showcase, which takes place at Cascades MTB park from 21-25 August, with the event set to break new ground for the sport not only locally but internationally as well.<\/p>\n Outside of Schonewolf and his fellow South African competitors, the African continent will be well represented by riders from Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Reunion whilst the influence of the event having been staged in Brazil over the past few years is also well evident with Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Venezuela all making up a large South American entry thus far.<\/p>\n Organisers have also received entries from Australia, Austria, Canada, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Philippines, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, with this list expected to grow even further over the final few days of the entry process.<\/p>\n With the masters event taking place on an entirely separate route to that of the elite competition, participants will be tested within their range on the World Championships worthy course.<\/p>\n One of the many notable characteristics of the Nick Floros creation is the number of overtaking opportunities each lap of the event offers, further enhancing the potential for all to stake an equal claim for this year\u2019s coveted rainbow striped World Champion jersey and the highly sought-after winner\u2019s gold medal.<\/p>\n Entries can be submitted via http:\/\/csams.cycling…ips-xcodhi.aspx<\/a> and entries close at midnight on 31 July. More information can be found at www.mtbworldchamps.co.za\/masters<\/a><\/p>\n The UCI Mountain Bike and Trials World Championships takes place at Cascades MTB Park in Pietermaritzburg from 26 August to 1 September 2013, and will be preceded by the UCI MTB Masters World Championships from21 to 25 August.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Local mountain bike enthusiasts have just a week left to enter the UCI Masters MTB World Championships, to be held at Cascades MTB Park in Pietermaritzburg from 21 top 25 August, the first time that the masters event has been held alongside the elite world championships. As the deadline for entries at midnight on 31 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":53200,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[3565,975],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-21694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-masters","tag-mtb-world-champs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21694","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\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21694"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21694\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21694"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=21694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"MikeBradley.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ccs-2-0-92692400-1374742648.jpg\")
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