Max Knox and Robyn de Groot measured their efforts carefully to claim the 2016 Elite men and women’s South African mountain bike marathon championship titles at Clarens in the Free State province at the weekend. Neither of their respective victories was dominant, as both riders were put under pressure from their rivals on an adjusted race route that forms Round 3 of the Ashburton Investments National MTB Series.
The route included more challenging singletrack and less gravel road sections than previous years, making for a less predictable outcome and tighter racing. The Elite men’s route covered a distance of 112km with a total of 2141m of vertical ascent, while the women’s race was over 77.5km with 1552 metres of climbing. It was held at an average altitude of 1 700 metres above sea level, high enough to be a challenge, especially for riders from the coastal regions.
Hard work and clever riding takes Max Knox to his second National Marathon Title at the 2016 #MTBClarens Ashburton Investments National MTB Series and South African National Marathon Championships.
Photo: ZC Marketing Consulting
Knox (29), currently racing without an official sponsor, won the men’s Elite title in a time of 4 hours 10 minute 00 seconds. Gawie Combrinck (NAD Developments), the 2015 national champion, finished second, just over 90 seconds later with Waylon Woolcock (USN Purefit) claiming the bronze medal shortly after.
It was Knox’s second national marathon title. His first came back in 2012. It was also Knox’s first win in the 2016 Ashburton Investments National MTB Series. He won the 2015 series crown and his third place at Round 2 at Sabie and his win at Clarens set him up well to try and defend that title, which is one of his goals for 2016.
“I have won twice before at Clarens and both those times I remember how the altitude played a role in how I felt. So once again, I waited a while before planning my hard effort carefully and it worked out well,” said Knox.
A group of 15 riders reached the 50km mark at the head of the race, but with Knox putting in a big effort for the next 25km, the group splintered and the race for the medals began to intensify.
Second place finisher Gawie Combrinck (Team NAD) at the 2016 #MTBClarens Ashburton Investments National MTB Series and South African National Marathon Championships.
Photo: ZC Marketing Consulting
“I felt that bunch was too big. From previous experience, I knew that the 25km from 50km to 75km was quite tough, so I decided to see if I could break it up a bit. I felt pretty good and only Waylon (Woolcock) stayed with me. I sensed I had a shot at getting a medal so just put my head down and kept pushing. I had a 30-second lead at 75km and felt that if I kept it steady for the rest I had a shot at a medal.
“To win though was a great feeling! It’s definitely a sweeter victory than when I won my first national title four years ago. The depth of the field has really improved over the past four years. Back then there were big time gaps, but these days the top 15 riders are all quite close together and all good quality racers,” said Knox.
Third place finisher Waylon Woolcock (USN Purefit) at the 2016 #MTBClarens Ashburton Investments National MTB Series and South African National Marathon Championships.
Photo: ZC Marketing Consulting
Woolcock was unable to hold onto second place, getting caught by Combrinck close to the finish. But Woolcock was widely praised for his super-human effort to rejoin the front of the field after suffering a cut tyre early on and losing eight minutes on the leaders.
Combrinck crossed the line in second place, one-and-a-half minutes off the pace: “I put in a big effort at the start. I launched a big attack just before the 56-kilometre tech zone and then on the steep climb right after that, Max and Waylon rode away. We caught Waylon just out of town and Nico put in a big effort to chase him down but Max was too strong and we could not catch him. I managed to get a gap on Waylon in the last singetrack to the finish.”
Woolcock was spent after his earlier efforts. “I spent too many pennies trying to catch up from my puncture earlier in the race. Apparently I came back to the group from an eight-minute deficit so that effort cost me in the end. Well done to Gawie – he stuck it to me on the last descent.”
Combrinck’s NAD teammate, Nico Bell, finished fourth with Darren Lill (USN Purefit) rounding out the top five.
For De Groot, defending her title for a third consecutive year took on a different challenge when she found her primary rivals to be cross-country specialists and not marathon specialists.
De Groot set the pace from the start, but was closely matched by 2012 cross-country Olympian, Candice Neethling (Team Dorma) and recently-crowned African cross-country champion Samantha Saunders (Valencia).
Robyn de Groot victorious at the finish with her 4th consecutive National Marathon Title at the 2016 #MTBClarens Ashburton Investments National MTB Series and South African National Marathon Championships.
Photo: ZC Marketing Consulting
“Through one of the technical, rocky descents my chain came off. It was wedged between the cluster and the frame and I couldn’t do anything until the bottom, when I stopped to sort it out. That’s when I lost contact with Samantha and Candice. I lost more time than expected because they’re technically both good,” recalled De Groot.
But the defending champion kept calm and set about reeling her rivals in over the final 30km, eventually passing both and going on to cross the finish line first in a time of 3 hours 25 minutes 34 seconds. Sanders crossed the line less than two minutes later and Neethling faded to fourth, leaving the strong-finishing Amy Beth McDougall (Valencia) to grab the bronze medal.
Second place finisher Samantha Sanders (Valencia) at the 2016 #MTBClarens Ashburton Investments National MTB Series and South African National Marathon Championships.
Photo: ZC Marketing Consulting
McDougall was elated with her third place: “I kept pushing as hard as I could and at 65 kilometres I saw Candice and pushed extra hard to close in on her at the 70-kilometre mark. I rode as hard as I could and I’m pretty stoked with third place.”
Third place finisher Amy Beth McDaougall (Valenci) at the 2016 #MTBClarens Ashburton Investments National MTB Series and South African National Marathon Championships.
Photo: ZC Marketing Consulting
“This title was a big goal for me again this year. Winning it for the fourth time is as special as winning it for the first time. I will never take it for granted,” smiled De Groot.
Ashburton Investments National MTB Series Round 3 – Clarens
Elite Men
Competitors at the 2016 #MTBClarens Ashburton Investments National MTB Series and South African National Marathon Championships.
Photo: ZC Marketing Consulting
The Ashburton Investments National MTB Series now moves to Van Gaalen in South Africa’s North West province for Round 4, on 11 June.
For more information, visit www.nationalmtbseries.com For full results, visit: www.saseeding.co.za
