Luke Moir underlined his pedigree when he was crowned the junior men’s champion at the SA MTB National Cross-Country Championships in Stellenbosch on Saturday.
The 18-year-old Silverback rider capitalised on an impressive start to cross the line just under four minutes ahead of second-placed Daniel Kotze.
Moir was ranked the top junior XCO rider in the world in January, although he went down to No 2 before the Covid-19 pandemic put an end to all competition in March.
Challenged by Kotze early on at the Coetzenburg course, Moir said he was able to manage the situation after creating some daylight between them on lap two.
“I had a really good start in the race and I had Daniel on my tail for the first lap,” he said.
“But I managed to drop him on the second climb on the second lap and from there I led the race and just went at my own pace.
“I aimed at achieving the fastest lap times I possibly could in the windy conditions and just rode as hard as I could.”
The Capetonian, who collected his eighth national title across various categories, is familiar with wet conditions and almost hoped it would continue raining on Saturday.
“The track was super muddy and slippery on Friday and we thought it would suit me if there was more rain on the Saturday.
“But it dried up very much the next day, although it was super windy, which made some of the rocky sections quite technical and it was difficult to clear some of the jumps with confidence.”
Having added another title to his CV, Moir said he would now take a break from racing for the rest of the year.
“After all the uncertainty, I feel it’s just time to rest up and start training for next year, when I will announce my plans for 2021.”
