MTN Nationals Sabie NISSAN

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Swiss shine in soaked Sabie

1st UCI World Series event and 2nd leg of MTN National MTB Series driven by Nissan

“According to the riders it was complete carnage out there.”

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Splashing about The shot: Germany’s Karl Platt (Team Bulls) splashes through the treacherous wet conditions at MTN Sabie The spec: 1/400s @f5 No flash Nikon D610 Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8

Mountain Biking

Story and Photos: Zoon Cronje


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“Huber and Kleinhans take dominating wins at first round of the UCI World Series�

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Bullish Bulls

The shot: Team Bulls went guns blazing from the start and ripped the classy field to shreds with the sheer power of Urs Huber and Absa Cape Epic partner Karl Platt The spec: 1/250s @ f4 No flash Nikon D610 Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 zoom lens

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In another sweep victory

and with Swiss precision Urs Huber (Team Bulls) and compatriot Ariane Kleinhans (Team RE:CM) stormed to victory in a soaking wet Sabie (Mpumalanga South Africa) for the first

round of the UCI World Marathon Series and the second leg of the MTN National MTB Series driven by Nissan.

The in-form Urs Huber (Team Bulls) finished the 120km MTN Ultra Marathon in a time of 5h28m57 followed by his team mate and ABSA Cape Epic partner Karl Platt in a time of 5h31m07s. Kevin Evans (Fedgroup Itec) was the first South African to cross the line in third place in a time of 5h43m33s almost 15 minutes behind Huber.

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Rain ripple effect

The shot: The rain ended up playing a major role in the outcome of the event with many of the big names struck down by mechanical failures in the treacherous wet conditions The spec: 1/250s @ f4 No flash Nikon D610 Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 zoom lens

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down by mechanical failures leaving the field wide open to those that survived the treacherous conditions. Victims included the likes of MTN Dullstroom winner Lourens Luus (Team RE:CM), local favourite Max Knox (Team Ghost), Waylon Woolcock and team mate Charles Keey (Cannondale Blend), France’s Remi la Fonte, Germany’s Steffen Thum and Simon Gegenheimer (Rose Ultra Sport) to name but a few.

The MTN Sabie National MTB Series driven by Nissan drew riders from 16 countries including some of the top riders from Switzerland, Germany, France as well as riders from Lesotho and even as far as David Kinjah Chris Froome’s (current Tour de France champion) mentor from Kenya. According to some of the riders it was complete carnage out there with many of the pre-race favourites struck

04 Fog of war

The shot: The massive climbs and fog menaced riders with a mental battle to keep up with the invisible leaders. In this image Kevin Evans and Urs Huber try to break the invisible elastic with the furious chasing Karl Platt The spec: 1/640s F5.6 No flash Nikon D610 Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 zoom lens ZoonCronje.com / NIKON

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“The MTN National MTB Series by Nissan covers 8 events spanning 5 provinces with 16 000 riders”

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Tenacious Evans The shot: I was really impressed by the fighting spirit in Kevin Evans refusing to give up time after time you could see him dig deep to catch up to the storming Urs Huber. He didn’t just catch him but immediately went to the front to apply the pressure on Huber in return The spec: 1/500s @ f5.6 No flash Nikon D610 Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 zoom lens

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06 Uber Urs

The shot: Urs is like a machine and watching him ride is unlike anything I’ve seen before, with this shot I tried to capture the composure, concentration and determination he showed throughout the entire Ultra marathon, he only got out the saddle once over the 120 odd kilometers The spec: 1/250s @f8 No flash Nikon D610 Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 zoom lens

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In the women’s MTN Marathon Ariane Kleinhans (Team RE:CM) and team mate Cherise Stander rode in first and second for the majority of the race. Stander had the misfortune of a side wall cut on her tyre leaving her stranded on the side of the trails watching second and third place slip away from her while battling to fix her tyre.. Kleinhans went on to a dominating win over Biogen Toyota’s Robyn de Groot in a time of 4h22m22s and de Groot in 3h31m00s. Amy Mcdougal (Valencia cycling) topped off the podium follow by Cherise Stander (Team RE:CM) and rising star Candice Neethling (BMC Velo Life).

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German precision

The shot: It’s not often I get to set up or anticipate a shot and in this case I waited for the exact moment German Karl Platt dropped into the forest single track section so I could show some of what Sabie is renowned for The spec: 1/320 f4.5 No flash Nikon D610 Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 zoom lens

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#MTBSabie was the first

event in the UCI Marathon World Series.

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Sabie skyline The shot: The fog finally lifted on the infamous cobra climb to allow me to snap a shot with Urs Huber with the small Mpumalanga town of Sabie down below The spec: 1/200s @ f11 No flash Nikon D610 Nikkor 14-24mm f2.8 wide angle lens

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#MTBSabie drew

riders from more than 12 countries

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Soaked Sabie The shot: We crossed so many streams up in the mountains I decided to wait after one of the surprisingly deep ones to capture Karl Platt navigating it after a sharp bend leaving a very small margin for error. Platt simply jumped off his bike in one fluid motion without crashing and still allowed me to capture the severity of the wet conditions the riders faced. The spec: 1/125s @ f5.6 No flash Nikon D610 Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 zoom lens

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Numbered

The shot: Officials at the finish literally had to wait for riders with a wet cloth to wipe their numbers in order to see “who� they were The spec: 1/250s @ f8 No flash Nikon D610 Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 zoom lens

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Tastes like mud The shot: During the wait for prize giving I noticed a youngster enjoying the mud more than most The spec: 1/500s @ f5.6 No flash Nikon D610 Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 zoom lens

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Mud machines

The shot: The significant contribution to the bike industry after a wet race like this amounts to hundreds of thousands of Rands with nature testing man and machine to the maximum The spec: 1/500s @ f5.6 No flash Nikon D610 Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 zoom lens

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Seven shades of dirt The shot: I found the patterns made by the dirt splashing up onto the back of team Bulls rider Karl Platt over the 120km Ultra marathon quite telling and this image shows the diversity of soil coloration traversed during the event The spec: 1/640s @ f6.3 No flash Nikon D610 Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 zoom lens

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Back on the horse

The shot: Following a very challenging year battling a recurring health issue and pure bad luck Kevin Evans is making his presence known again on the world stage and it is only a matter of time until he gets his breakthrough win to announce the return of the marathon king The spec: 1/640s @ f6.3 No flash Nikon D610 Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 zoom lens

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Sabie has become one of

the stalwart events in the MTN National MTB Series driven by Nissan.

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Keeping an eye on the prize

The shot: Following the event Karl Platt could barely keep his eyes open for the TV interviews that followed after the mud he had to endure relentlessly scratching his eyes The spec: 1/250 @ f8 No flash Nikon D610 Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 zoom lens.

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Cranked up

The shot: Here Max Cluer is holding up the pedal still attached to part of the crank one of the riders broke off during the marathon event yet still managed to finish without it The spec: 1/500 @ f5.6 No flash Nikon D610 Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 zoom lens

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The next round takes rid-

ers to the Western Cape for #MTBTulbagh and the perfect last minute tester for the ABSA Cape Epic.

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Breakthrough ride

The shot: Gert Heyns impressed and surprised many with his breakthrough ride pinning his name on the results ahead of many of the international and pre race favourites boding well for his Epic aspirations with teammate Matthys Beukes The spec: 1/500s @ f5.6 No flash Nikon D610 Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 zoom lens

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Epic pdium

The shot: If I were a betting man my money would be riding on the Bulls to dominate the ABSA Cape Epic podium in a similar fashion this year. Karl Platt and Urs Huber seem unstoppable so far this season The spec: 1/200 @f11 flash fired Nikon D610 Nikkor 14-24mm f2.8 lens SB910 flash

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Top step The shot: It was no surprise that Swiss star and South African sweetheart Ariane Kleinhans took to the top step at #MTBSabie The spec: 1/200s @ F11 No flash Nikon D610 Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 zoom lens

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