Alan Hatherly said yesterday he was delighted to take the SA National XCO Cup Series title after winning the fourth event at the Mankele Bike Park in Mbombela on Saturday.
Team Spur’s Hatherly won three of the four events. In the other – the first, at the Coetzenburg MTB Trails in February – he finished fifth overall and was the first South African rider home in an international line-up.
Alan Hatherly said yesterday he was delighted to take the SA National XCO Cup Series title after winning the fourth event at the Mankele Bike Park. Photo: Michal Cerveny
Following the four SA XCO events, Hatherly took the title with a total of 725 points. Arno du Toit was second with 570 points and Stuart Marais third with 541.
“It was really awesome to have sealed the overall series this past weekend,” Hatherly told In the Bunch.
“In addition, with these events being UCI category 1 it allowed us to get some extra points to improve on our UCI ranking ahead of the world champs in Switzerland [from September 5 to 9].”
Hatherly returned to South Africa a few weeks ago after having competed in the UCI mountain bike world cups in Albstadt and Nove Mesto on two successive weekends.
Since his return he has won two local events, the Western Cape XCO Championships a couple of weeks ago and the Mankele event on Saturday.
“My form is coming along really nicely,” Hatherly said. “I have managed to put in quite a big block since I came back from Europe.
“The speed is not quite there yet, but that is normal seeing that it is still two weeks until I race in Italy [at the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Val di Sole].
“On the whole I do not have much to complain about. Everything has gone smoothly and is on track.”
Despite winning on Saturday, Hatherly admitted he started on the back foot. “The guys started a lot harder than I expected; much harder than what they had in previous rounds.
“Arno [du Toit] and Stuart [Marais] were in front of me going up the first climb. I just followed their wheel.
“Towards the end of the first lap there was a drag climb before the single track that led to the finish; I went past them there and just continued at a similar pace to what they started at.
“I managed to just extend my lead with every lap until I won at the end,” said Hatherly, who eventually beat Marais into second by over four minutes.
Hatherly will now turn his focus to two back-to-back world cups – in Val di Sole from July 6 to 8 and then at Vallnord, Andorra, from July 13 to 15.
He will then return home to take part in the SA National XCO Championships in Bloemfontein from July 21 to 22.
“It will be interesting to see what I have left after the two world cups, but I am looking forward to trying to defend my national elite title,” he said.
