GAUTENG ELIMINATOR SERIES 2, WOLWESPRUIT

The second round of the Eliminator Series for Gauteng took place on Sunday 2 July 2017 at the Wolwespruit MTB Trails in Pretoria.

Eliminator is a short course heat racing format of mountain biking whereby riders race four at a time across a track(roughly 800m) being tested on their speed, power and bike handling skills. The top two finishers advance to the next round whilst the bottom two finishers are eliminated from the event. Basically it is everything you need for a cross country or marathon race condensed into a minute and a half leg burning sprint.

The great thing about Eliminator is it is not limited to dirt, in fact it is completely urban tracks at UCI level. The track at round two for Gauteng was a 50/50 mix between urban and dirt as riders raced down stairs around the TrailWolf Cycles shop and through some of the single track on offer at the park.

Racing was flat out with elbow to elbow action throughout every age group. Riders are rewarded for finishing on the podium with incredible prizes from our sponsors and for every 10 competitors in a age division we increase the prize money – it was great to see the ladies divisions growing as the series has gone on and the under 16 ladies have enough competition to receive prize money. A special mention needs to be made of Laurie Sian Brett who was the lone under 14 lady who opted to compete amongst the under 16 ladies where she advanced all the way to the final at both events.

The ladies under 10 division added the perfect example as to why we make riders wear the armsleeves as the van Aswegen sisters Karli and Linda were identical twins in every sense of the term – the same looking bike, helmet, kit, shoes, the way they did their hair and were evenly matched at riding speeds! The arm sleeves were the only way for us to differentiate them!

As with every event, it would not be possible without the support of sponsors and the Eliminator Series is grateful to have great brands supporting us in every province: Red Bull, Giant Bicycles, Skullcandy, OGIO, Fox Racing, Race Pace Sportswear and Yesman Branding.

The Eliminator Series for the past three years only visited Western Province, KwaZulu Natal and Gauteng, however this year the series is growing and will include an event in Bloemfontein(Saturday 15 July) behind the Elevate Cycles store and Knysna(Sunday 23 July) at the Garden Route Trail Park. Entries for these two events are open and close the Friday before the event.

Enter now: www.onemovement.co.za/eliminator

RESULTS: ROUND 2 Gauteng – Wolwespruit MTB Trails, Pretoria

u/10 Girls

1. Linda van Aswegen – Hennopspark
2. Karli van Aswegen – Hennopspark

u/14 Girl: Laurie Sian Brett – Constantia Kloof Primary School

u/16 Girls

1. Andrea De Waal – High School for girls Potchefstroom
2. Robin Stewart – Waterkloof High School
3. Kelly Randle – Midstream College

u/19 Girls

1. Tanya Kotze – Wonderboom
2. Kaylin Prinsloo – Hartebeespoort High School
3. Carla Joynt – Waterkloof High School

Ladies Open

1. Sarah Hill
2. Julia Kotze
3. Rona Stark

u/12 Boys

1. Marcel Moore – Home School
2. Massi Ambrosi – Bryan Evans
3. Hendre Schoeman – Midstream Primary

u/14 Boys

1. Lungelo Sibanda – Diepsloot MTB Academy
2. James Stewart – Waterkloof High School
3. Berno van Aswegen – Hennopspark

u/16 Boys

1. Aaron Heyneke – Jeppe High School for Boys
2. Francois Botha – Randburg High School
3. Tseke Mogano – Diepsloot MTB Academy

u/19 Boys

1. Melcolm Botes
2. Mbuyiseni Dladla – Diepsloot MTB Academy
3. Bendeon Myburgh – Waterkloof High School

Men Open

1. Wase Prinsloo
2. Milan de Beer
3. Armand du Toit 

Men 40+

1. Lynton Moore
2. Gregory Hill
3. Conrad Marshall

Source: One Movement