Alan Hatherly wins the first round of the Trailseeker MTB Series in South Africa in a sprint where he beat nothing less than Nino Schurter and Victor Koretzky. The route was 63km with an elevation gain of 1.700m. Small detail, Alan Hatherly won with a backpack on his shoulders: the Cannondale man had no assistance and preferred to ensure hydration by competing with a backpack.
Right now, South Africa is one of the XCO capitals of the world because we find many top riders retiring. Specialized Factory Racing and Scott-SRAM are two teams who are already frequenters of the area. Also present were Sebastian Fini and Malene Degn, the 2 new Danes Lapierre-Mavic Unity. At the race was also present the winner of the 2022 Absa Cape Epic.
In the women's category, Candice Lill swept the board, winning almost 6 minutes ahead of Kim Le Court and almost 9 minutes ahead of Malene Degn.
MEN'S ELITE RANKING
| OA | Name | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alan Hatherley | 02:32:20 |
| 2 | Nino Schurter | 02:32:21 |
| 3 | Victor Koretzky | 02:32:22 |
| 4 | Matt Beers | 02:32:23 |
| 5 | Tristan Nortje | 02:33:34 |
| 6 | Mark Joubert | 02:35:01 |
| 7 | Gert Heyns | 02:37:12 |
| 8 | Johan Van Zyl | 02:38:38 |
| 9 | Arno Du Toit | 02:38:39 |
| 10 | Sebastian Fini Carstensen | 02:39:13 |
FEMALE ELITE RANKING
| 1 | Candice Lill | 03:02:33 |
| 2 | Kim LeCourt | 03:08:11 |
| 3 | Malene Deign | 03:11:12 |
| 4 | Tiffany Keep | 03:24:34 |
| 5 | GIULIANA SALVINI MORGEN | 03:24:35 |
| 6 | Eliz-Mari Pretorius | 03:26:12 |
| 7 | Cherise Willeit | 03:28:23 |
| 8 | Tess Keers | 03:29:40 |
| 9 | Michelle George | 03:30:54 |
| 10 | Janice Venter | 03:34:26 |