Johann Potgieter and Zandri Strydom lived up to their pre-event favourites status to win the Elite men and women’s South African Enduro Championships titles respectively at Trailworx, Nelspruit at the weekend.
By Sean Badenhorst
Potgieter (pictured above) won the 2021 title at Iron Throne Trail Park, Hartebeespoort, to add his first Enduro national title to a string of downhill crowns. That steep, rugged Harties course suited his downhill capabilities, but with more pedalling required of the six stages at the 2022 Championships in the Mpumalanga Lowveld, it wasn’t a given that the Western Cape-based racer would be able to defend his crown.
But the 35-year-old YT Dudes racer used his experience and meticulous practising of each stage in the days before to deliver a dominant performance on race day, winning all but one stage and clocking a rapid overall time of 14 minutes 14 seconds.
KwaZulu-Natal’s Keira Duncan, the 2019 SA Enduro Champion, came into the event as one of the favourites based on a superb season that has seen him win all three SA Enduro Cup Series events on varying courses and with it, the series title. The diminutive Pyga racer was no match for Potgieter though, winning one stage and finishing second overall in a time of 14:36.
Local star, Willie van Eck, hoped his familiarity with the trails would work in his favour, but the 22-year-old member of the Organic Athlete team was outgunned by his more experienced rivals to finish third overall in a time of 14:50. Commencal racer, Matt Lombardi and fellow Western Cape racer and top Junior, Philip van Schalkwyk rounded out the top five respectively – all in under 15 minutes.
It was a fiercely contested men’s event with most of the country’s best Enduro and Downhill racers in the hunt for supremacy on the superb trails built and curated by Alwyn Cornforth and his Trailworx team.
The stage variety was impressive – from the tight, twisty and mostly manicured Pipeline (Stage 1) to the natural desire-line cattle tracks on Fried Eggs (Stage 2). Stages 3 and 6 were both on the Red Alert line with its blend of rocks, drops and ridiculously fast bush-tunnel flow.
Stage 4 was the much-discussed new trail, Det Collector, a rugged, technical 600-metre run along the edge of the tallest hill in the area with a high penalty for error; and Stage 5 was the beautifully flowy Blue Cheeze that took years to hand-build into one of the best descending trails in the country.
“I was a bit concerned about the pedalling coming into the event. But once I’d practised the stages, I was able to work out how to be efficient. You have to know when to pedal and that’s what worked in my favour. On Fried Eggs (Stage 2), which had the most pedalling, I only pedalled to get up to speed and then I just tucked down and freewheeled until I felt I needed to pedal again,” explained Potgieter.
“Obviously I would have preferred more steep gradient, but there was great variety of stages though and I it was a good allround test for a national champs. I’m very stoked to have been able to defend my Enduro national title,” added Potgieter, who now has six Downhill and two Enduro national titles in his career.
While bigger than in 2021, the women’s field was still relatively limited, with riders travelling from across the country to contest for prestigious medals.
In the absence of 2021 winner, Frankie du Toit, all eyes were on current SA Downhill champion, Beani Thies from KwaZulu-Natal and local ace, Zandri Strydom, who has made an impressive switch from XCO racing to Enduro. Another name being mentioned in the build-up was Lilian Baber, the snappy Junior from Limpopo, who came a close second to Thies and Du Toit at Rounds 2 and 3 of the SA Enduro Cup Series respectively.
An early error on Stage 3 saw Strydom take the wrong entry point to the stage, forcing her to backtrack and essentially restart. But this was the only race blemish for the skilled, fit 21-year-old Commencal racer, who won all the other stages and the overall title in a time of 17:40.
Unfortunately, Thies pulled out with illness after two stages, leaving Baber to charge to second overall and first Junior in a time 18:33. Youth category racer and Mpumalanga local, Danika Botha impressed by winning Stage 3 and finishing third overall in a time of 19:01. Veteran, Louise Kotze of Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal’s Amber Cole rounded out the top five respectively.
“It was great to race on my home trails again. And cool to share them with so many others who love good riding,” said Strydom. “Most of my stages went well, but I did mess up the start of Stage 3 and had to try get back on the correct route as quickly as I could. I probably lost about 30 seconds, but fortunately it didn’t affect my overall position in the end.”
It wasn’t only the racing that was hot, the mercury rose to over 35 deg C on race day, which had an effect on riders that weren’t conditioned to it. As expected, there were some crashes, but no serious injuries. Prize-giving at Friends Café proved to be a festive affair as riders dropped their rivalry to applaud some incredible performances and celebrate a new batch of South African Enduro Champs medallists and title holders.
“It’s been a very rewarding process for us to host not only a South African championships, but also an EWS qualifier. We are really happy with the turnout of riders from all around the country and appreciate their trust in us to deliver a solid variety of stages,” said Schalk Potas of Trail Awareness Crew, the Event Director.
“Thanks also to all the brands and sponsors and organisations that invested in this event as well as our Mpumalanga Enduro Series, which this was Round 4 of for 2022. We also would like to thank the officials, marshals and especially Alwyn and his Trailworx team for preparing world class trails. We hope the riders will return to ride the trails for fun in future too!” added Potas.
Below are the top 10 males and females overall, top three in each category as well as the top 3 fastest stage times overall for males and females:
Overall men
1 Johann Potgieter (Western Cape) 14:14
2 Keira Duncan (KwaZulu-Natal) 14:36
3 Willie van Eck (Mpumalanga) 14:50
4 Matt Lombardi (Western Cape) 14:56
5 Philip van Schalkwyk (Western Cape) 14:57
6 Luke Dinkel (KwaZulu-Natal) 15:31
7 Wade Prinsloo (North West) 15:39
8 Keagan Brand (KwaZulu-Natal) 15:42
9 Alex de Bruin (KwaZulu-Natal) 15:49
9 Ruben Le Roux (Mpumalanga) 15:49
Elite men
1 Johann Potgieter (Western Cape) 14:14
2 Keira Duncan (KwaZulu-Natal) 14:36
3 Willie van Eck (Mpumalanga) 14:50
Junior men
1 Philip van Schalkwyk (Western Cape) 14:57
2 Keagan Brand (KwaZulu-Natal) 15:42
3 Alex de Bruin (KwaZulu-Natal) 15:49
Youth men
1 Gabriel Burns (Mpumalanga) 15:56
2 Omar Wilson (KwaZulu-Natal) 16:04
3 Luca Zietsman (Western Cape) 16:25
Sub-Junior Boys
1 Daniel Uys (KwaZulu-Natal) 17:33
2 Troy Cole (KwaZulu-Natal) 17:42
3 Hanro Ehlers (Limpopo) 18:25
Sub-Veteran Men
1 Bryce Munro (Gauteng) 16:01
2 Andre Pretorius (KwaZulu-Natal) 16:50
3 Justin Victor (Mpumalanga) 16:54
Veteran Men
1 Jason Davies (KwaZulu-Natal) 16:51
2 Jamie Watt (Mpumalanga) 18:10
3 Jacques Dreyer (KwaZulu-Natal) 18:24
Master Men
1 Patrick Morewood (KwaZulu-Natal) 16:54
2 James Morland (Gauteng) 18:02
3 Sean O’Flynn Madden (Gauteng) 18:08
Grandmaster Men
1 Mike Behr (Gauteng)
Sprog Boys
1 Luke Stafford 17:48
2 Christopher Mason 18:08
3 Michael Kanis 18:23
Nipper Boys
1 Ethan Duvenage 18:49
2 Tate Barnard 1937
eBike Men
1 Barry Crouse 17:08
2 Tyron Trisos 18:14
3 Sean Badenhorst 18:28
OVERALL LEADING STAGE RESULTS
Stage 1
1 Keira Duncan 1:34
2 Johann Potgieter 1:35
3 Willie van Ecky 1:36
Stage 2
1 Johann Potgieter 3:15
2 Keira Duncan 3:22
2 Willie van Eck 3:22
Stage 3
1 Johann Potgieter 1:38
2 Willie van Eck 1:42
2 Philip van Schalkwyk 1:42
Stage 4
1 Johann Potgieter 1:16
2 Matt Lombardi 1:17
3 Keira Duncan 1:20
Stage 5
1 Johann Potgieter 4:39
1 Keira Duncan 4:39
3 Philip van Schalkwyk 4:50
Stage 6
1 Johann Potgieter 1:51
2 Willie van Eck 1:56
3 Keira Duncan 1:58
Overall Women
1 Zandri Strydom (Mpumalanga) 17:40
2 Lilian Baber (Limpopo) 18:33
3 Danika Botha (Mpumalanga) 19:01
4 Louise Kotze (Gauteng) 19:42
5 Amber Cole (KwaZulu-Natal) 20:38
6 Aimee Glisson (Western Cape) 20:44
7 Talia Behr (Gauteng) 22:06
8 Tahane Ehlers (Limpopo) 22:15
9 Monica Glover (Gauteng) 22:25
10 Sandra O’Shea (KwaZulu-Natal) 22:37
Elite/Junior Women
1 Zandri Strydom (Mpumalanga) 17:40
2 Lilian Baber (Limpopo) 18:33
3 Talia Behr (Gauteng) 22:06
Youth Women
1 Danika Botha (Mpumalanga) 19:01
2 Amber Cole (KwaZulu-Natal) 20:38
3 Tashane Ehlers (Limpopo) 22:15
Sub-Veteran Women
1 Aimee Glisson (Western Cape) 20:44
2 Lauren Wiles (KwaZulu-Natal) 24:40
3 Maude Badenhorst (Gauteng) 25:20
Veteran Women
1 Louise Kotze (Gauteng) 19:42
2 Sandra O’Shea (KwaZulu-Natal) 22:37
3 Melody French (KwaZulu-Natal) 23:01
Master Women
1 Monica Glover (Gauteng) 22:25
2 Karen Fortune (KwaZulu-Natal) 24:08
3 Fiona Williams (KwaZulu-Natal) 26:55
Sub-Junior Girls
1 Tyla-May Smale 23:13
Sprog Girls
1 Leah Mitchell (KwaZulu-Natal) 21:42
2 Lohane Ehlers (Limpopo) 24:08
3 Rylee van Heerden (KwaZulu-Natal) 24:39
OVERALL LEADING STAGE RESULTS
Stage 1
1 Zandri Strydom 1:46
2 Lilan Baber 1:56
3 Louise Kotze 1:57
Stage 2
1 Zandri Strydom 3:44
2 Beani Thies 4:01
3 Louise Kotze 4:08
Stage 3
1 Danika Botha 2:05
2 Lilian Baber 2:14
3 Beani Thies 2:14
Stage 4
1 Zandri Strydom 1:40
2 Lilian Baber 1:44
3 Danika Botha 2:02
Stage 5
1 Zandri Strydom 5:37
2 Lilian Baber 5:52
3 Danika Botha 6:01
Stage 6
1 Zandri Strydom 2:27
2 Lilian Baber 2:36
3 Danika Botha 2:39
LITE ENDURO
Open Male
1 Andrew Duvenage 18:49
2 Francois Barnard 19:28
3 Dylan Vorster 21:51
Full results with stage times and positions can be found here.
For a gallery of images, visit the Trail Awareness Crew Facebook page here.
Thanks to the following companies and organisations for their support:
Bike Market https://bikemarket.co.za
Oasis Water https://oasiswater.co.za/
Pyga Bikes https://www.pygamountainbikes.com
TrailTech Cycles https://trailtechcycles.co.za
Valencia Cycles https://www.vbike.co.za
Squirt https://www.squirtcyclingproducts.com
The Organic Athlete https://www.theorganicathlete.co.za
OPI http://onpointindustries.co.za
Culture Collective Photography http://culturecollective.co.za
Cycling South Africa https://www.cyclingsa.com
Pronto Computers https://prontocs.co.za
Devil’s Peak Beer https://www.devilspeak.beer
Friend’s Café https://www.friendscafe.co.za
Casterbridge Hollow Hotel: https://www.casterbridgehollow.co.za
Gravity Hub https://www.gravityhub.bike
Leatt https://leatt.com/za/
Rush Sports https://rushsports.co.za
Trail Awareness Crew
Trail Worx
SHRED Media https://www.treadmtb.co.za
