With Kevin Evans and David George opting to compete in the Joburg2C mountain bike tour rather than the MTN Clarens, Max Knox might just be the new overall leader in the MTN Ultra-marathon series after the MTN Clarens National MTB Ultra taking place on Saturday, 5 May 2012.

Pretoria welcomed mountain bikers from across the country at the weekend for the second round of the CSA-MTB National Series, with Philip Buys and Amy McDougall taking the cross-country Men and Women’s titles respectively on Saturday 14 April, and junior Tiaan Odendaal claiming the Downhill victory on Sunday 15 April 2012.

Pretoria athletes Nico Sterk and Carla van Huyssteen overcame a strong field to triumph in the ATU Cross Triathlon African Championships at The Islands Estate at Hartbeespoort outside Johannesburg on Sunday.

Sterk (1:40:38), who took third in the South African Cross Triathlon Championships in Bloemfontein three weeks ago, beat national U/23 triathlon champion Rudolf Naudé (1:41:18) and Sasol events winner Pieter van der Mescht (1:46:21).

Happy Friday is back after the Easter break, enjoy and safe riding this weekend.

Cycling South Africa is delighted to welcome Red Bull as an official partner to the South African Mountain Bike National Series for 2012.

Mike Bradley, National Director of Mountain Biking, is super excited about the sponsorship and welcomes Red Bull to the National scene: “Cross-country (XCO) and especially Downhill racing, are the more extreme and technical aspects of the sport, as was witnessed at this year’s opening round of the UCI MTB World Cup in Pietermaritzburg.”

Red Bull will be supporting the remaining 3 events in the series as well as the SA XCO and DHI Championships to be held at Mankele MTB Park (in Mpumalanga) in July.

Nico Pfitzenmaier is an interesting fellow. This is confirmed when I meet with the lean German rider in the Robert Daniel gazebo after stage 2 of the 2012 ABSA Cape Epic. While most riders are downing protein shakes and refueling with sports nutrition products, Pfitzenmaier is eating a meal resembling raw vegetables and a form of rice, which he later explains is a highly nutritious seed.

Tom Boonen on his way to winning the 2012 Paris-Roubaix, after a 50km solo breakaway. This way the 4th Paris-Roubaix victory of his career, what a machine!