Hatherly beats Schurter and Koretzky in the sprint to win the Trailseeker Banhoek
The large number of mountain bike professionals who have travelled to South Africa to continue their preparation for the start of the season has left us with what could be considered the first race of the year. South African Alan Hatherly won the Trailseeker Banhoek, a 70 km marathon race that was decided in a sprint between Nino Schurter and Victor Koretzky.
Alan Hatherly wins first race sprint of the year over Nino Schurter and Victor Koretzky
The South African Trailseeker race series is not well known outside its borders, but the starting grid and podium of its first race of the year could have been that of any XCO World Cup.
In the marathon race of almost 70 km we found such illustrious participants as the XCO World Champion Nino Schurter, Victor Koretzky, Alan Hatherly, Matt Beers or Sebastian Fini.
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The race went on with the group of favourites riding together quite fast throughout and it wasn't until the last few metres when after two and a half hours a sprint was launched in which Alan Hatherly took the win ahead of Schurter, Koretzky and Beers.
In the women's race, South Africa's Candice Lill won with more than 6 minutes advantage over Kim Le Court, while Denmark's Malene Degn closed the podium.
Here is a recap of the race that the organisers have posted on their Instagram account.
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As you can see, the atmosphere seemed more relaxed than what we are used to seeing in other competitions, but both the race images and Hatherly's statements make it clear that Nino and Koretzky made things difficult for him to get the victory.
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