Andrew Neethling (Trek) clearly thrives on pressure, a fact he confirmed on Sunday when he secured a thrilling victory at the second round of the MTN National Cup downhill mountain bike event at Mankele in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa.

Riders each get two runs at South African downhill races, and their fastest of the two determines their final position. That was the format used on the technical 1.8km course through some rugged, lush bushveld terrain, which included rock gardens, bridges, jumps, berms and tight switchbacks.

Neethling, winner of Round 1 in Stellenbosch last month and strong favourite to win Round 2 on Sunday, clocked a time of 2min09.27sec for his first run, a performance which most felt was good enough to take the early lead and put his rivals under pressure for the second round of competition. But fellow Capetonian, Johann Potgieter (Cannondale), eclipsed Neethling with a time of 2:08.56, setting the scene for an exciting finale.

“I usually use the first run as a ‘feeler’ run but felt that time was pretty good on such a tight, short course which leaves no room for error,” explained Neethling afterwards.

The 2007 national champion, widely regarded as one of the classiest downhillers in the world, then showed his ability to perform under pressure when he set the course on fire with his second run, clocking a snappy 2:04.54 which Potgieter and the others were unable able to better.

“Johann really forced me to wake up for the second run. I’m pretty much expected to win when I race in South Africa and I try my very best to live up to those expectations. It feels really good to get a second win so early in the year. It gives me a confident start to the season and it is great exposure for my new team, Trek.”

Neethling finished 11th overall in the 2008 UCI Nissan World Cup and began a new contract with the Trek international racing team last month. He’s one of a crop of talented downhillers from Cape Town, four of whom secured the top four places overall on Sunday.

Potgieter’s first run gave him second place with Gary Barnard (Fox Morewood) third, Jonty Neethling (Fox Morewood) fourth and 2008 national junior champion, Hayden Brown (Mongoose), rounding out the top five.

Rika Olivier, winner of Round 1, sustained an injury in a practice session crash and had to sit out Sunday’s action giving Vicky Phillips (Fox) a path of less resistance to capture the victory with a solid first run time of 3:10.75.

Round 3 of the MTN National Cup Series, in association with MiWay, takes place in George on 14 and 15 March, and doubles as the national championships. For full results from Round 2 and more information, visit www.cyclesport.co.za

MTN National Cup in association with MiWay
Downhill – Round 2
Mankele, Mpumalanga
Leading results
MEN
Overall
1 Andrew Neethling ¬– Trek 2min04.54sec
2 Johann Potgieter – Cannondale 2:08.56
3 Gary Barnard – Fox Morewood 2:10.18
4 Jonty Neethling – Fox Morewood 2:11.64
5 Hayden Brown – Mongoose 2:11.65

Pics: Gary Perkins

NEETHLING SAVOURS HOMETOWN VICTORY

Cape Town’s Andrew Neethling (Trek) responded well to hometown pressure when he won the first round of mountain biking’s MTN National Cup Series downhill event in Stellenbosch, South Africa on Sunday.

Neethling, who ended 2008 at 14th on the UCI world rankings and who finished 11th in the 2008 UCI World Cup, clocked a time of two minutes and 11.34 seconds for the fast, narrow descent through the forests of Jonkershoek.

Johann Potgieter (Cannondale) secured second place, just less than five seconds back with Neethling’s younger brother, Jonty Neethling (Morewood Fox), rounding out the top three places in front of a large, enthusiastic crowd that had braved the hot, dusty conditions.

Riding a brand new Trek Session 88, which was only released from customs last Wednesday, Neethling set out on his first of two runs to get familiar with the bike with the intention of improving his time with his second and final run.

“I made a few small mistakes near the top on the first run but was really pushing hard in what was basically a ‘feeler’ run, which I felt was necessary since I was riding not only a new bike, but a new brand and haven’t done a race for quite a while,” explained Neethling who ended up clocking his winning time with that run.

“On the second run I went out a bit harder at the top, overshot a turn on what is a really narrow course and had a small crash. I thought I could still rescue the run, but a couple of errors further on left me well off my first run time.

“Luckily my first run was a solid one! There are some big expectations when you come home to do a race. You are expected to win so it’s quite a relief, although the aborted second run left me feeling a bit frustrated. It’s still feels good to win, especially in front of friends and family.”

South Africa’s 2008 World Cup champion, Greg Minnaar, missed the event as he is currently in the United States.

In the women’s event, Rika Olivier eclipsed Gina Nixon and Vicky Phillips to claim the victory.

The MTN National Cup is a series of five International Cycling Union Category 2 events, which take place throughout South Africa. Round 2 will be held at Mankele, Nelspruit on 7 and 8 February.

MTN National Cup
Downhill – Round 1
Jonkershoek, Stellenbosch
Leading results
MEN
Overall
1 Andrew Neethling – Trek 2:11.34
2 Johann Potgieter – Cannondale 2:16.25
3 Jonty Neethling – Morewood Fox 2:18.15
4 Gary Barnard – Morewood Fox 2:19.69
5 Pierre van der Merwe 2:20.58

Pics: Gary Perkins

Gallery

It is a combination of fast fire road at the top linking into some single track off camber turns. After this it links into the surrounding BO KAAP neighborhood of Cape Town. There is a serious amount of pedalling with race times of about the 3 min mark. You have to navigate down tricky flights of stairs, parked cars and a couple jumps before a sprint to the line. The format is combined of 2 runs and you ride with a partner. I rode with my brother and practice was fun with him. He unfortunately crashed and this left me to ride solo most of the course. My brother did manage to win the red bull speed trap.

I managed to take the win with a combined time of 5min 57 sec for my 2 runs.
It was great to race at home and be part of this awesome event which raises funds for the BO Kaap area here at home.

1st: Andrew Neethling
2nd: Louis Breslar Knipe
3rd: Johan Potgieter.

Team Mongoose

The industry is gearing up for Interbike. I will not be attending this year. It would have been just so much travelling.

The World Cup Season finished off with an exciting race in Schladming, Austria. Everyone was treated to a great overall title race and a first time World Cup winner.
Coming into the finals I was sitting in 11th Place overall. I had a chance to get into the Top 10 but also had 12th-14th placed riders very close behind me. I knew my work was cut out as these riders are strong here.
The course is one of the best on the circuit. It is rough, fast and has a great mix of what makes a great track. Rain came the day and night before the race making for some slippery wood sections.

I wanted to put a good qualifying run together but feel I played it too safe and made some mistakes. I rested up for the finals and John, took care of the bike. We headed up for final and I wanted to try and make up for my quali run and finish off the season strongly.
I went hard out of the gate and was really pushing it, I made a big mistake about 30 sec in which bummed for out for a bit but I think it made me push it even harder after that. I was not sure what sort of run I was putting together as I was having some moments but kept pushing. I felt strong at the bottom and crossed the line to take the hot seat. It was a bit of a wait to see where I would end up but watching the race unfold was great.

I eventually would finish 10th. I was super happy with that as have not had the best races here in the past. I managed to get ahead of all riders I needed to in the final but did not gain enough points on 10th Place overall and thus ended 11th overall for the season. My goals coming into this season were for top 10 overall so I am happy to just about achieve that.

Greg Minnaar managed to take the overall title and Sam Blenkinsop won his first World Cup.

Thanks to everyone involved in making this a great season.

Andrew Neethling
www.andrewneethling.com
Team Mongoose
Oakley
THE
Dylan Dean Designs
Alpinestars

The weather has been sunny since I arrived in Schladming. Course walking was today and not to much has changed. They took out the technical and steep wood section in the middle but there are still going to be some tricky corners in the woods covered in roots. Course is looking very fast but from what we have heard is that rain is on the way. Well of course rain is on the way, ha ha, it is a World Cup after all.
The points chase will be exciting with Greg leading Sam Hill for the overall. I am up to 11th overall with 12th -14th place breathing down my neck….
Stay tuned for more..