Mpumalanga cycling teams on fire off-road and on tar

With Covid regulations at level 1, Mpumalanga cycling teams competed in SA National Series (mountain biking and road racing) recently in KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo.

“We as a province are privileged to have great riders in our region and they showed their skills in the races,” said Shane Snyman, MTB director of Mpumalanga Cycling.

On September 25 and 26 it was showdown time at Cascades in KZN for the 2021 SA National XCO Championships with all the top MTB riders competing for the leader SA jerseys.

“Our team presence down at KZN was just overwhelming and the riders were so supportive to each other, from the nipper category up to the grandmasters. This was the first time ever that we had a team of 52 riders to represent Mpumalanga MTB, and with two relay teams as well.

“Cascades is one of the most challenging MTB XCO track in SA with massive avalanche climbs, super-fast single tracks and rock garden flowing down the steep cliffs. What an amazing experience for the first timers who competed in the race,” said Snyman.

The Mpumalanga XCO team claimed fourth place overall in SA. The 1^st team relay team finished  fourth with the 2nd relay team 12^th overall.

Top Mpumalanga performers in the SA series were:
Nipper Boys: Brand du Plessis – 1^st; WC van Schalkwyk – 6^th.
Nipper Girls: Giselle Barnard – 6^th.
Sub-junior Boys: Samuel Mcintosh – 9^th.
Youth Men: Luan Snyman – 10^th.
U/23 Woman: Zandri Strydom – 2^nd.
Junior Women: Geane Engelbrecht – 5^th.
Sub-junior Girls: Lu Mari du Plessis – 3^rd. 
Sub -vet Women: Wilmarie du Plessis – 2^nd ;Thelma Grobler – 3^rd.
Veteran Men: Brand du Plessis – 1^st.
Grandmaster Men: Cobus Fourie – 3^rd.
U/23 Men: Jean du Plessis – 11^th.  

From October 3 to 5 the Mpumalanga road cyclists braved the heat up in Limpopo for the SA Road Youth Championships in time-trails, criteriums and road racing.

“Our youth are the future for the sport and we need to expose them to racing and to participate against all the best of the best in South Africa, and once again they did not disappoint at all,” said Snyman.

Luan Snyman, one of the top performing youth riders in Mpumalanga just missed out on the SA Junior Road Race Jersey and a 1^st place gold medal in the road race.

After 79km and 2:02;15 at an average speed of 39.8km/h, and with the last 500m left to the finish Luan gave it all on the final sprint and just missed first place with 3m.  

Time Trial
U/15 Girls: Megan Botha -2^nd;
U/15 Boys: Carl Mare – 13^th; Milan Snyman  – 14^th.
U/17 Boy: Jean Coetzee –  19^th; Hannes Opperman  – 20^th.
U/19 Boys: Dillon Botha 12^th.  

Criterium Racing
U/11 Boys: James Velleman – 2^nd.
U/17 Boys: Jean Coetzee – 18^th.  

Road race
U/15 Girls: Megan Botha – 2^nd.
U/15 Boys: Carl Mare – 8^th; Milan Snyman 9^th.
U/11 Boys:  James Velleman – 2nd.
U17 Boys: Luan Snyman – 2^nd; Jean Coetzee 5^th; Hannes Opperman 20^th.