Brand-new routes and bridge bring excitement to MTO Trails
The second leg of the Mpumalanga XCO 2021 held at MTO Trails White River on Saturday can be considered a resounding success.
With only two months’ notice, the MTO Trail crew built their first-ever XCO race trail, with a distance of 3,8 kilometres and 108 metres of climbing. The excitement for the new bridge and trail was palpable and the riders loved it.
The route consisted of plenty of flowing single tracks as well as rock and log gardens where a few riders came very close to Mother Nature. That made for some interesting conversations after the race.
There were three staggered starting times, with many competitive races chasing that number-one spot. In the women’s race, Zandri Strydom took a comfortable lead from the start, increasing her gap over the five laps. In the men’s race, Willie van
Eck fought for the lead against Jean du Plessis. Van Eck rode away from Du Plessis, opening a lead until lap four, as the tables turned when Du Plessis caught up to Van Eck on lap five, taking the lead and overall win in lap six. Special mention goes to the sprogs and nippers who flew effortlessly and impressively over the bridge, boulders and logs.