ANDREW Johnson, fresh from a great result in the Western Cape recently, will be looking to consolidate his lead in the Quattro ROAG Series when the second leg takes place in conjunction with the popular Husqvarna Classic Mid-Illovo MTB Challenge and Trail Run on Sunday.
Johnson was a big four-minute winner over Warren Price at the opening leg of the Quattro ROAG Series in February and that early-season form was the foundation for a superb top-40 finish against international competition at the Cape Epic earlier this month.
The 39-year-old Ballito resident will be looking to take another step toward the R25 000 prize for the ROAG Series when he tackles the new-look Husqvarna Classic route on Sunday, but he will face some stiff competition from a sprinkling of riders who also enjoyed success at the Epic.
His biggest challenge is likely to come from the winner of the prestigious African jersey at the eight-day event in the Western Cape. Durban’s Julian Jessop (PYGA Euro Steel) was a last-minute substitution to partner Matthys Beukes at the Epic and surprisingly ended 12th to grab the jersey as the top all-African team, just pipping Howick’s Stuart Marais who was 13th with partner HB Kruger.
Photo:
Illovo Wartburg Classic
Marais and Jessop fought a race-long battle for the red jersey but with Marais heading to Egypt for the African continental championships on the same day, it frees up Jessop for the win, provided he has fully recovered from the stresses of the eight-day sufferfest. Jessop did not take part in the opening leg of the ROAG Series and will be playing catch-up and chasing points for at least the next few races.
Another rider who tasted success at the Cape Epic was Brennan Anderson, who is currently lying fourth behind Hendrik Bester in the ROAG Series. The South Coast resident teamed up with Cape Town’s Nicky Giliomee to win the mixed category at the Epic and will be looking to convert that block of racing/training into a good result this weekend.
Two other riders who should be in contention are Tyronne White and Dean Wortmann who have both shown some early season form and it will be fascinating to see how they perform against the Epic riders who have had to recover from the rigours of one of the toughest mountain bike races in the country.
In the women’s race Christie Leigh Hearder makes her first appearance of the year and is the odds-on favourite to take the win with Nadine Nunes sure to be in contention as well.
Both the top two riders from the opening leg at Wartburg, Andrea de Boer and Rouxda Grobler had not entered late on Wednesday so they may be skipping the second leg which may allow Hearder or Nunes to move to the joint top of the series standings.
In the 16km trail run Mark MacKenzie is favoured among the pre-entered runners but Mthokozisi Chamane and Wiseman Vezi both beat the Pietermaritzburg athlete at the Wartburg event and if they are among the late entries spectators can expect a tense three-way contest.
The women’s field should be led home by Karen Bargate or Alison Wasserfall, although series leader Wendy Mills will start as favourite if she is a late entry.
On Sunday the mountain bikers have a wide choice of routes ranging from the 60km Husqvarna X-treme Classic (which was introduced in 2016), the always popular 40km Safire MTB, the family orientated 18km Gwahumbe Experience and the 10km Fun Ride, while runners can select from the 16km Farmers Agri-Care or the 9km Gwahumbe trail runs.
The trail runs start the action at 6.30am while the mountain bike events get underway from 8am
Quattro ROAG Series Standings
MTB: Men
1 Andrew Johnson 100
2 Warren Price 86
3 Hendrik Bester 74
4 Brennan Anderson 64
5 Nathan Treble 56
6 Dean Wortmann 51
7 Mazwi Smimango 47
8 Frederick Rossouw 44
9 Luke Chambers 42
10 Cayde Muldoon 41
MTB: Women
1 Andrea de Boer 100
2 Rouxda Grobler 86
3 Isabel Moolman 74
4 Tarryn Morgan 64
5 Brenda Potts 56
