Thaba Trails to host South African XCO Cup
This is one of the most prestigious events on the SA biking calendar and will be streamed live as well as being shown on local and overseas cycling programmes.
THABA Trails became a reality through the persistent encouragement of the land owner of Thaba Trails, Henk Louw.
Wendell Bole, a well-known Southern cyclist, had a vision for this pristine piece of land only eight kilometres from the Johannesburg city centre.
Wendell started applying himself to mountain biking after the tragic death of a dear friend next to him while out on a training ride one Wednesday afternoon.
His determination and perseverance paid off as he added mountain bike national colours to his track national colours. Despite having his share of bad luck during the 2010 World Mountain Bike (XCO) Championships in Brazil, he finished in a creditable 11th place after breaking a chain on the first of three laps.
Misfortunes
Determined to improve his position in the world rankings, Wendell applied himself to training and improving his bike skills for the 2013 World XCO Champs in Pietermaritzburg. He was determined to get on the podium, but his misfortune started only days before the event when he fell and broke his right shoulder in a freak accident. As if this was not enough, in yet another freak accident, an advertising board on wheels blew over only six weeks later and Wendell found himself under this trailer. This time broke his left shoulder as well as his back.
Not one to sit down and cry, he returned to the track and again represented South Africa at the 2014 World Masters Track Cycling Champs.
In his drive to achieve his dreams of a gold medal at the 2015 World Champs, he followed a strict training programme which was halted in its tracks when he once again fell during the nine-day joBerg2C stage race … and because of not completing his rehabilitation from these injuries he had another bad fall and has not been able to get back to serious training.
Building a dream
However, Wendell’s dreams of building a world-class mountain bike track has resulted in Thaba Trails being asked to host the South African XCO Cup. Not only is this event one of the ‘big five’ on the South African XCO calendar, it has the added prestige of being a UCI world ranking event. This means that local and international riders will be competing for valuable UCI points for their countries’ qualification for the World Championships.
This is one of the most prestigious events on the SA biking calendar and will be streamed live as well as being shown on local and overseas cycling programmes. The exposure opportunity was seized by local and international property giants Century 21, who are the title sponsors for the event.
The Century 21 SA XCO Cup will take place at Thaba Trails, 101 Klipriver Drive, Mulbarton on March 31. There will not only be racing for the elites, but Wendell will host school children as well in the categories of nippers, sprogs, youth, sub-juniors and juniors (juniors will also be competing for UCI points).
Sub-vets, vets, masters and grandmasters will also be competing over the purpose-built XCO course. An invitation goes out to all local riders, both young and old, to compete in this event.
*Supplied by Wendell Bole (edited).
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