{"id":68363,"date":"2024-05-26T18:49:16","date_gmt":"2024-05-26T16:49:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/?p=68363"},"modified":"2024-06-03T08:31:12","modified_gmt":"2024-06-03T06:31:12","slug":"wessel-botha-and-danielle-strydom-win-sa-mtb-marathon-champs-in-karkloof","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wessel-botha-and-danielle-strydom-win-sa-mtb-marathon-champs-in-karkloof\/","title":{"rendered":"Wessel Botha and Danielle Strydom win SA MTB Marathon Champs in Karkloof"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Wessel Botha and Danielle Strydom claimed the respective men\u2019s and women\u2019s SA MTB Marathon Championship titles at the 85km Sappi Karkloof Classic Trail Festival on Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a cloudless, late autumn day with the mercury hovering in the mid to late twenties, the 25-year-old Botha, riding for the Imbuko Pro Cycling team, claimed his maiden SA title, finishing in 4:04:29, ahead of Tristan Nortje (4:06:19) and Jaedon Terlouw (4:08:32).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Wessel Botha celebrates winning the 85km race and the SA MTB MArathon Championships at the Sappi Karkloof Classic Trail Festival on Sunday. Photo: Gavin Ryan \/ Gameplan Media<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hailing from Wellington in the Western Cape, Botha enjoyed a day where it all worked out as planned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen you are on the start line of any SA Champs event, there is always a belief that you could win and today that dream fell into place for me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the scorching sun, Botha was happy with the conditions. \u201cThe weather was awesome but riding at altitude is a test for riders like me coming from sea level,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was a technical route which played to my advantage and it was on the downhills where I made up ground and stayed with the early leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conserving and managing his energy to perfection, Botha\u2019s game plan saw him do enough to stay in contention on the testing hills and make his move on the speedy descents. \u201cIt was crucial to use the ups and downs of the course to my advantage if I wanted to win. The guys drilled it in the early parts of the race, opening up some gaps, but I caught up and stuck with them on the downhills,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not knowing the first half of the route, Botha said he \u201cjust followed wheels on the singletrack,\u201d but having ridden the second half the previous day, he knew what lay ahead and subsequently planned his victorious attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTristan launched an attack but on the last downhill, about eight kilometres from the finish, I took the lead and managed to hold on. It\u2019s the team\u2019s first SA Marathon title and I am proud to wear the jersey,\u201d said Botha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Danielle Strydom celebrates her second South African title in two weeks. The recently crowned SA Gravel Champion added the SA MTB Marathon crown by winning the 85km race at the Sappi Karkloof Classic Trail Festival on Sunday. Photo: Gavin Ryan \/ Gameplan Media<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Strydom’s SA MTB Marathon Champs title is the culmination of an unreal couple of weeks as she added a second title to the SA Gravel Champs she won at the Race to the Sun two weeks ago. While admitting she was a little low on confidence as she waited on the start line, Strydom stuck to her guns to claim overall honours ahead of teammate Samantha Sanders (4:59:59) with young, up-and-coming KZN rider Tyler Jacobs (5:08:23) third.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDespite planning ahead, these events seldom pan out how you would like and it becomes a case of thinking in the saddle and making decisions based on what\u2019s happening at the front of the race,\u201d said the 25-year-old Potchefstroom cyclist, riding for the Efficient Infiniti team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strydom acknowledged a tough, technical and testing route, saying it felt longer than 85km. \u201cIt demanded respect and I did struggle at times, but I know I have enjoyed a proper day out,\u201d she said. \u201cI made my break early, after the first major uphill, and maintained my pace, dropping the other women contenders and managing to hold on for the title.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While it may have sounded easy for Strydom, there were moments when she had to dig deep. \u201cI started cramping near the end from the effort I had to put in to stay ahead. The other women leaders never gave up that easily and were always there and thereabouts, not far off my shoulder, calling for sustained effort and focus from me. I was relieved to finish,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SA Champs crowned champions in all age groups from youth up to grand masters with KZN’s Omar Wilson and Jodi Mackinnon claiming the junior titles with contrasting tactics. Wilson cruised away and was never seriously challenged as he beat Free State’s Andre van Rooyen by over six minutes in their 60km race, while Mackinnon beat regular rivals Errin Mackridge and Robyn Chapman for a KZN 1-2-3 in the 40km event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sam Sanders, who eventually ended second, leads her teammate and new SA MTB Marathon Champion Danielle Strydom during the 85km race at the Sappi Karkloof Classic Trail Festival on Sunday. Photo: Gavin Ryan \/ Gameplan Media<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Selected Results<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elite Men \u2013 85km<\/strong>
1 Wessel Botha 4:04:29
2 Tristan Nortje 4:06:19
3 Jaedon Terlouw 4:08:32
4 Arno Du Toit 4:09:55
5 Rossouw Bekker 4:10:51
6 Michael Foster 4:16:30
7 Daniel Van Der Watt 4:16:41
8 Jan Withaar 4:16:53
9 Rudi Koen 4:17:42
10 Julian Jessop 4:19:48<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elite Women \u2013 85km<\/strong>
1 Danielle Strydom 4:57:17
2 Samantha Sanders 4:59:59
3 Tyler Jacobs 5:08:23
4 Sarah Hill 5:17:01
5 Bianca Haw 5:24:26
6 Shauna Esmeyer 5:33:09
7 Caitlin Mee 5:42:40
8 Lane Du Plessis 5:49:50
9 Hanli Cilliers 5:49:51
10 Karlise Scheepers 5:50:18<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sub-Vet Men \u2013 85km<\/strong>
1 Thinus Redelinghuys 4:37:49
2 Greig Knox 4:55:43
3 Dutoit Van Den Bergh 4:56:30<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vet Men \u2013 85km<\/strong>
1 Andrew Hill 4:41:34
2 Lyle Poulter 4:42:09
3 Frederick Rossouw 4:59:30<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Youth Men \u2013 60km
<\/strong>1 Joshua Johnson 2:55:54
2 Dean Woolley 3:02:40
3 Henro Van Der Walt 3:04:04<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Junior Men \u2013 60km<\/strong>
1 Omar Wilson 2:48:00
2 Andre Van Rooyen 2:54:47
3 Beon Van Staden 3:01:19<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Master Men \u2013 60km
<\/strong>1 Jean Fourie 3:14:12
2 Franso Steyn 3:14:47
3 Hein Du Toit 3:22:20<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sub-Vet Women \u2013 60km<\/strong>
1 Kristian Slabberr 3:48:50
2 Laiken Smith 3:50:43
3 Mikaela Hagemann 4:03:46<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vet Women \u2013 60km<\/strong>
Marisa Van Der Linde 3:50:34
2 Mari Du Toit 3:52:41
3 Chantelle Bosch 4:02:28<\/p>\n\n\n\n

G-Master Men \u2013 40km<\/strong>
1 Shane Daniel 2:01:28
2 Bruce Viljoen 2:05:34
3 Jimmy Mills 2:08:30<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Youth Women \u2013 40km
<\/strong>1 Nika Nortje 2:11:07
2 Nadia Van Wyk 2:11:21
3 Madison Bateson 2:11:25<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Junior Women \u2013 40km
<\/strong>1 Jodi Mackinnon 2:10:12
2 Errin Mackridge 2:11:08
3 Robyn Chapman 2:11:12<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Master Women \u2013 40km<\/strong>
1 Carli Cooke 2:20:01
2 Kirsten Searle 2:24:15
3 Kerry Campbell 2:30:41<\/p>\n\n\n\n

G-Master Women \u2013 40km<\/strong>
1 Anet Schoeman 2:41:06
2 Yvonne Conway 3:25:11
3 Charmaine Eleftheriou 3:30:19<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wessel Botha and Danielle Strydom claimed the respective men\u2019s and women\u2019s SA MTB Marathon Championship titles at the 85km Sappi Karkloof Classic Trail Festival on Sunday. On a cloudless, late autumn day with the mercury hovering in the mid to late twenties, the 25-year-old Botha, riding for the Imbuko Pro Cycling team, claimed his maiden […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":68364,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[263],"featured_location":[338],"class_list":["post-68363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-karkloof","featured_location-bottom-row"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68363","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=68363"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68363\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68368,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68363\/revisions\/68368"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68363"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=68363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}