Minnaar, Hatherly, Haw & Keep chase medals
HIS week coming up is the highlight of the mountain biking world with the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships taking place in Cairns, Australia – and the good news is that last weekend we had a few South Africans showing good form at the right time.
While Cycling SA is struggling to get itself sorted out (well, they are meant to getting themselves sorted out, but there is a bit of a debate as to how much sorting out they are actually doing), the country’s riders are somehow managing to perform, and the MTB riders are no exception.
The big event last weekend was the final leg of the UCI World Cup in Val di Sole, Italy, and as much as it was a huge disappointment there were a couple of positives.
The bad news was Greg Minnaar’s chance of hanging on to the overall World Cup title was literally blow out by a tyre failure. It was always going to be close and after he was beaten by Aaron Gwin in the qualifying, to reduce his lead from 33 points to 23, it was clear he may need a win in the final to secure the title.
And then his tyre blew midway down his run and he was effectively out of the running.
Minnaar’s failure to score meaningful points over the weekend meant he slipped to third overall in the standings behind Gwin and Troy Brosnan, but hopefully that just makes him hungrier to grab a fourth World Championship title.
By complete coincidence I was in his shop in Pietermaritzburg this week and was looking at all his World Cup and World Championship winning bikes hanging on the wall, and wondering where he is going to fit the 2017 World Championship winning Santa Cruz 29er!
But Minnaar is not the only rider to be representing South Africa in Australia this week.
For the downhill he will be joined by recently crowned SA Champion Johann Potgieter and Stefan Garlicki in the elite race, and juniors Cullen McMaster and Niko Velasco.
Minnaar is a definite contender and in his race on Sunday, the final race of the event, could give South Africa a medal – and maybe even a gold. Potgieter did not have the best time in Italy and missed qualifying for the final, but Garlicki enjoyed a great weekend. The former South African Champ was 28th in qualifying and then surpassed that with a brilliant run to end 21st – by far his best World Cup result and he will be looking for a similar finish in Cairns.
The juniors are unlikely to feature on the podium, but the experience will be invaluable and will make this a worthy exercise.
In the cross country, hopes of medals are resting on some young shoulders.
In the men’s U23 race Alan Hatherly will have the number two board as the top ranked rider (defending champ Sam Gaze will automatically have the number one). However, his ranking is probably not a perfect reflection as the points from his continental and national titles have maybe pushed him above some riders who will expect to get the better of the talented young South African.
The likes of the World Cup stars like Latvian Martins Blums, Denmark’s Sebastian Carstensen, Norwegian Petter Fagerhaug, Italian Nadir Colledani and German Georg Egger, as well as New Zealand’s Gaze will make life difficult for Hatherly.
His teammate in the U23 race is 20-year-old Julian Jessop, the national U23 champion who this weekend won the Mandela Day Marathon. His superb form means he may be closer to the front than his ranking suggests.
In the women’s U23 race, Bianca Haw matched Jessop this weekend with a win in the women's race and the former world number five ranked junior may surprise if she can overcome her bad seeding, while teammate, U23 national champion Frankie du Toit, will need to be watched closely as well.
In the junior girls race, the runner up to Haw in the Mandela Day Marathon event was Tiffany Keep and there will be a lot of interest in her result. The talented SA junior champ is performing on and off road and her mature style of riding could see her surprise a few of the European stars.
Pieter du Toit and Johann Trotzky are in the junior boys race but they can expect to find the going tough against some well-trained and experienced riders.
William Mokgopo and Sthembiso Masango are South Africa’s elite cross country representatives. They are two of the three lowest ranked riders in the elite field which shows what a tough time the two are likely to experience in Cairns. However, they are there to get experience and the key for them is to go, learn and come back as better riders who are able to pass on their knowledge.
The women’s elite contingent is slightly better off with Mariske Strauss holding the hopes of a good finish, but she will struggle to make an impact while Rozalia Kubyana will be the lowest ranked rider on the start line and her mission is surely similar to that Mokgopo and Masango.