Three-time South African marathon champion Robyn de Groot and former men’s titleholder Max Knox have been selected to represent SA at the 2015 UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships in Selva Val Gardena in Italy on June 27.
Team Ascendis Health rider, Robyn de Groot will be representing South Africa in the 60km long Elite Women’s race at the 2015 UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships in Selva Val Gardena in the Dolomites, Italy, on 27 June. Photo: Craig Dutton/pics2go.co.za
They will face some truly mountainous terrain, as the race venue is a popular skiing destination in the Italian Dolomites mountain range.
According to the Cycling SA announcement, the 87km men’s race starts at an altitude of 1 563m above sea level and heads straight up to 2 298m in the first 5km. The undulating terrain takes them across mountain paths bringing them back down into the villages below.
At 60km, the women’s event follows a similar but shorter route and climbs to the same altitude in the opening kilometres.
