THE HILTON SPORTS NEWS
Rising star Brendan van Eeden made it a hat-trick of victories when he claimed two more mountain biking wins recently and ended the Quattro ROAG Series powered by Momentum as the new rider to beat in KZN.
In a hectic weekend, the 20-year-old “new kid on the block” added both the Sappi Karkloof Challenge and Gooderson Drakensberg Gardens Classic Challenge titles to his list of cycling palmares, increasing an already impressive CV that boasts the Illovo Eston title from late last month.
His recent move from
Potchefstroom to Hilton, where he works with Team Absolute Motion coach Johann Wykerd, has clearly paid dividends.
After a narrow sprint victory over Stuart Marais (NanoTime) at Eston at the end of last month, Van Eeden left nothing to chance at Karkloof and Drakensberg Gardens.
There was some debate over the final Eston result and amateur commissionaires were studying videos to check who crossed the line first, but Van Eeden made sure there was clear daylight between himself and Marais in both of the weekend’s races.
In the 60km event in Karkloof on the the Saturday, Van Eeden broke away relatively early on the tough climbs and, helped by a puncture to Marais, was able to build a big gap and lead home the trio of riders who have dominated local KZN mountain bike races for the past few seasons.
Marais took second with Tyronne White (DriveTrain Academy), Andrew Hill (TIB Insurance) and Dean van Dyk filling the top five places.
On the Sunday, at one of the most picturesque MTB races on the KZN cycling calendar, the 20-year-old may have been dwarfed by the majestic Drakensberg Mountains but he overshadowed his rivals once more as he claimed a 22-second victory over Marais.
His third win in three weekends also relegated Marais to his third runner-up spot in three races, but this surely gives a preview of some exciting local racing in the province for 2021.
While Marais was disappointed to have another two second-place finishes, he can console himself with the fact he had already wrapped up the Quattro ROAG Series powered by Momentum and can bank on the R25 000 prize money from that for his wedding fund when he marries later this month.
Hill finished third on the Sunday with talented junior Michael Foster crossing the line fourth.
The already-crowned winner of the women’s MTB title for the Quattro ROAG Series powered by Momentum, Christie Hearder, was once again a dominant winner at Drakensberg Gardens with Sanchia Malan and Michele Roods claiming the minor placings.
On the Saturday Cherie Redecker returned from her international commitments to win the women’s title at Karkloof.
In the trail running events at Drakensberg Gardens, Linda Zondi returned to action after a lockdown layoff and was an easy winner over Carel Le Roux, who had already wrapped up the 2020 title in the Quattro ROAG Series powered by Momentum.
The women’s trail run winner was Sarah Hearn with Linda Shrives and Hayley Mackinnon second and third respectively.