South Africa’s first UCI Trade team Kargo Pro MTB put in another solid performance at the opening leg of the South African MTB Cup Series at Cascades MTB Park in Pietermaritzburg over the weekend.
Kargo Pro MTB team’s Rourke Croeser bounds through Buck Jump Alley in first place early on the first lap of the opening leg of the SA MTB Cup Series at Cascades MTB Park. Photo: Andrew McFadden /
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The team secured no fewer than three podium places along the way.
The event, organized by national federation Cycling South Africa, offered participants the opportunity to earn invaluable UCI points on home turf and saw dozens of the country’s leading cross country stars take to the recently revised course.
Team ace Rourke Croeser, in his first year as an elite competitor, battled bravely at the front of the elite and under-23 men’s combined Pro Elite clash, eventually finishing third overall.
Croeser finished behind SCOTT Factory’s Philip Buys and Trek Racing’s Brendon Davids despite having suffered a nasty crash just days before which sliced multiple layers of skin off his hand, making closing his hand and gripping the handlebars uncomfortable.
“I had the perfect start and got the hole-shot,” explained Croeser.
“I set a hard pace on lap one as I wanted to split the group as quickly as possible and after the first lap Phil, Brendon and myself had a 25 second lead over the rest.
“All credit to the other two though, they threw everything at me on lap two and made me pay for my first lap efforts!
“I could see the other two ahead of me throughout the lap but I just didn’t have the firepower to close them down and I was really slow on the descents before I found some good rhythm on laps four and five but it was too late by then and I had to settle for third,” he added.
Summary of results – Kargo Pro MTB: SA MTB XCO Cup Series nr. 1
Pro Elite Men
3.Rourke Croeser
7.Travis Walker
9.Stuart Marais
16.Paul Rodenbach
Siyabonga Njiva (DNF)
Junior Boys
4.Marco Joubert
