South African marathon champion Max Knox will be out to defend his title in round one of the TrailSeeker Series at Legends MX near Pretoria on Saturday.
The New Holland/This Way Out rider, who comes off a close second place and a victory in the first two rounds of the MTB Series, said he was motivated to secure another win as he continues his build-up to the Cape Epic.
“I’m in a good place at the moment. My training is going very well and my results from the first two races of the year have given my confidence a good boost,” said Knox.

Max Knox taking the win with a split second difference in the sprint finish between Nico Bell and Arno du Toit at the Legends MX last year. Photo: www.zcmc.co.za
As was the case last year, Knox is likely to face strong opposition from 2016 series winner Nico Bell and his Team NAD Pro teammate Gawie Combrinck.
“Gawie and I are in a big training block for the Cape Epic. This is the last big week of training so the legs are going to hurt on Saturday. But it’s also a very flat race so the pace will be high and it will probably end in a sprint like last year,” said Bell.
Others sure to be in the podium mix include Arno du Toit (LCB Racing), Jan Withaar and Guylin van den Berg.
Last year’s women’s winner Robyn de Groot (Ascendis Health) will not be defending her title, but there is still likely to be a fairly good turnout as the prize-money is equal to that of the men.
The 72km marathon includes 683m of accumulated elevation, while the 40km half-marathon has a total elevation of 379m.