Oosthuizen is the woman to beat in South Africa
By Daniel Simms published
Favorite looks forward to defending at Fifty-Miler
Looking at her results during the past few weeks, Samantha Oosthuizen (W.I.N/Karsten Cycles) can be considered the favourite to win the MTN 50-Miler on Sunday, November 8 in Hilton, KwaZulu-Natal. If she does win, it will be the second time in two years.
Judging by Oosthuizen's performances during the past six weeks, she is the in-form women's rider in South African mountain biking at the moment. She won the Silver Star Casino Race, the 60km Race of the Ride Crater Cruise, Hill2Hill, MTN Asishove and the Telkom Satellite Race. She also finished second in the MTN Clarens Race, as well as in the 105km Race of the Ride Crater Cruise.
Her turn-about in mountain biking is impressive. During the first eight months of this year, Oosthuizen managed to win a few races but more often she had to settle for lesser placings.
Mannie Heymans (Garmin adidas) is the reason why Oosthuizen is at the moment almost a fixture on mountain bike podiums across South Africa.
"It was all Mannie's fault. Mannie and I were involved in an argument about the quality of women's racing in South Africa. Mannie does not have a high opinion about the way women race. According to him, women's cycling is more or less a waste of time," said Oosthuizen.
Upset by her Heymans' opinion, Oosthuizen was motivated. "In retrospect, the argument between Mannie and me was perhaps the best thing that could have happened to my cycling career. At the moment I am super-motivated to prove Mannie wrong."
When asked about her memories of her victory in the MTN 50-Miler, Oosthuizen said, "Mud, mud, mud. It made cycling extremely difficult. The mud got into your gears and into every other moving part of the bike. But I do not want to sound as if I am complaining. I actually enjoyed every minute of it - especially the constant climbing.
Oosthuizen makes no secret about her intention to win again on Sunday. "I will try to make the racing hard whenever there is a chance. That is a certain way of putting your rivals under pressure."
Ischen Stopforth (Marsillio Projects) who clinched the MTN Series overall by winning the Clarence Race, won't be riding. Neither will Yolandé de Villiers (Toyota-Cyclelab), who is currently second overall in the series. De Villiers decided to take a break to enable her to start preparing for next year's Cape Epic.
This year De Villiers earned a reputation of "trap, val en breek" while racing in the MTN events. That was because she took more tumbles that she would have liked. And if she did not fall, she had to battle to fix the mechanical failures of her bike at crucial moments. "It won't happen again next year. I think I have had enough bad luck to see me through for a few years."
It seems Oosthuizen's main rivals will in all possibility be Raats, and Amy Jane Mundy and Carla Rowley.
Racers will find an improved route this year with new singletrack sections replacing some less interesting parts. The forecast is for cloudy, but no rain.
Standings for the both the men's and women's categories are below.
Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Ischen Stopforth | 18660 | pts |
2 | Samantha Oosthuizen | 16096 | |
3 | Yolandi Du Toit | 15426 | |
4 | Yolande De Villiers | 12000 | |
5 | Petruschka Constancon | 9061 | |
6 | Beatrice Hogan | 9032 | |
7 | Christine J Van Rensburg | 8726 | |
8 | Heletje Van Staden | 8224 | |
9 | Genee Steyn | 8063 | |
10 | Cindy Rebello | 7753 | |
11 | Lize Theron | 6530 | |
12 | Adele Drake | 4915 | |
13 | Nicole Murphy | 4569 | |
14 | Yolande Speedy | 4000 | |
15 | Jozanne Louw | 3607 | |
16 | Grant Van Der Walt | 3446 | |
17 | Candice Arthur | 3358 | |
18 | Chrissie Viljoen | 3188 | |
19 | Kelly Mccallum | 3163 | |
20 | Amoryn Saayman | 3098 | |
21 | Su Don-Wauchope | 3094 | |
22 | Marissa Van Der Merwe | 2951 | |
23 | Mandy Nel | 2729 | |
24 | Woudie Saaiman | 2628 | |
25 | Michelle Harris | 2572 | |
26 | Robyn Adendorff | 2547 | |
27 | Sarah Van Heerden | 2513 | |
28 | Erika Meeding | 2381 | |
29 | Elshe Naude | 2266 | |
30 | August Zerwick | 2205 | |
31 | Victoria Myburg | 2192 | |
32 | Glynis Pretorius | 2007 | |
33 | Dagmar Muhlbauer | 2000 | |
34 | Colleen Jacobs | 1916 | |
35 | Elsabe Jacobs | 1832 | |
36 | Steffie Arlow | 1801 | |
37 | Sarah Wielopolska | 1783 | |
38 | Karyn Southgate | 1774 | |
39 | Elsie Bezuidenhout | 1748 | |
40 | Marlien de Bont | 1659 | |
41 | Monica Botha | 1587 | |
42 | Mina Radoycheva | 1552 | |
43 | Marlien De Bont | 1540 | |
44 | Joanne VD Westhuizen | 1486 | |
45 | Karien van Jaarsveld | 1484 | |
46 | Charmaine Werdmuller | 1478 | |
47 | Nat Barbosa | 1443 | |
48 | Lizelle Smit | 1414 | |
49 | Nolene Saunders | 1408 | |
50 | Elriiz Swart | 1395 | |
51 | Elouise Metherell | 1323 | |
52 | Mylene Loumeau | 1300 | |
53 | Hester Vermeulen | 1262 | |
54 | Alison Lingard | 1235 | |
55 | Lisa Blatch | 1198 | |
56 | INGRID CHANTLER | 1160 | |
57 | Colette Coetzee | 1040 | |
58 | Daleen van Staden | 989 | |
59 | Nicola Meltzer | 981 | |
60 | Rafael Rincon | 880 | |
61 | Estelle Van Schalkwyk | 817 | |
62 | Kelly Pennington | 793 | |
63 | Kelly Marnewick | 778 | |
64 | Shayle Bester | 743 | |
65 | Elizabeth Delport | 678 | |
66 | Elinda Human | 678 | |
67 | Leandra Blann | 676 | |
68 | Candice Talbot | 657 | |
69 | Aimee Serreirinha | 493 | |
70 | Michelle Muller | 425 | |
71 | Mari Naude | 408 | |
72 | Sarie Van Wyk | 400 | |
73 | Philda De Jager | 375 | |
74 | Merle Walker | 357 | |
75 | Sally Mawson | 350 | |
76 | Vanessa Record | 325 | |
77 | Monica Brown | 311 | |
78 | Ashleigh De Lima | 304 | |
79 | Renske Nysschen | 291 | |
80 | Colleen Cawood | 289 | |
81 | Bev Corser | 275 | |
82 | Nicole Hafkamp | 270 | |
83 | Liz Blumenthal | 250 | |
84 | Greta Strydom | 250 | |
85 | Thursia Hardenberg | 250 | |
86 | Louise van Niekerk | 250 |
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Kevin Evans (MTN Energade) | 18963 | pts |
2 | Francois Theron (Garmin Adidas) | 16174 | |
3 | Marc Bassingthwaighte (Garmin Adidas) | 15675 | |
4 | Philip Buys (Garmin Adidas) | 14568 | |
5 | Ben Melt Swanepoel (Specialized Mankele) | 14146 | |
6 | Johnny Kritzinger (DCM Chrome) | 12830 | |
7 | Adrien Niyonshuti (MTN Energade) | 11541 | |
8 | Erik Kleinhans (GT Mr Price) | 11014 | |
9 | David George (MTN Energade) | 9756 | |
10 | Jacques J Van Rensburg (DCM Chrome) | 9413 | |
11 | Peter Smith (Jeep Cycling Club) | 8798 | |
12 | Nico Bell (Bell Cycles) | 7848 | |
13 | Max Knox (DCM Chrome) | 7329 | |
14 | Trust Mumangandu (MTN Energade) | 6699 | |
15 | Mannie Heymans (Garmin Adidas) | 6340 | |
16 | Renier Bellingan (USN) | 5753 | |
17 | Renay Groustra (GT Mr Price) | 5524 | |
18 | Petrus Malherbe (Mongoose Mr Price) | 5494 | |
19 | Matthys Beukes (MTN Energade) | 4940 | |
20 | Thomas Truscott (Standard Bank) | 4834 | |
21 | Justice Makhale (MTN Energade) | 4504 | |
22 | Burry Stander (Specialized Mr Price) | 4000 | |
23 | Andrew McLean (Toyota Cyclelab) | 3406 | |
24 | Brandon Stewart (DCM Chrome) | 3298 | |
25 | Graham Diesel (Toyota Cyclelab) | 2979 | |
26 | David Mitchell | 2942 | |
27 | Tiaan Kannemeyer (Neotel) | 2933 | |
28 | Frans Stander | 2907 | |
29 | Paul Cordes (IMC Mongoose) | 2816 | |
30 | Jupiter Nameembo (MTN Energade) | 2788 | |
31 | Stephan Strauss | 2770 | |
32 | Jock Green | 2755 | |
33 | Juma Sato | 2670 | |
34 | Charles Keey | 2630 | |
35 | Henry Uys | 2619 | |
36 | Brett Dickson (GT Mr Price) | 2606 | |
37 | Gustav Becker | 2599 | |
38 | Alex Pavlov (North Cliff Cycles) | 2588 | |
39 | Christoff Van Heerden (MTN Energade) | 2572 | |
40 | Willem Groenewald | 2558 | |
41 | Jupiter Nameembo (MTN Energade) | 2541 | |
42 | Dennis Du Toit | 2522 | |
43 | Shaun Peschl (Mr Price) | 2511 | |
44 | Pieter Seyffert (Goldfields) | 2499 | |
45 | Chris Smith | 2443 | |
46 | David Morison (PPA) | 2374 | |
47 | Shaun Mackenzie | 2357 | |
48 | Ruan Louw | 2347 | |
49 | Steve Van Der Merwe | 2322 | |
50 | Renato Albrecht | 2307 | |
51 | Nathan Byukusenge | 2288 | |
52 | Yolande Speedy (IMC Mongoose) | 2234 | |
53 | Ian Mcleod (MTN Energade) | 2200 | |
54 | Drew Murphy | 2187 | |
55 | Garren Soutar | 2155 | |
56 | Gerard Dirks | 2154 | |
57 | Willem Le Roux | 2148 | |
58 | Dion Gerhard Froneman (Flatdogs) | 2143 | |
59 | Anton Smal (Cyclehouse) | 2114 | |
60 | Wessel Ollewagen | 2091 | |
61 | Graham Cooper | 2070 | |
62 | Jacov Lalou | 2037 | |
63 | Hendri Du Plessis | 2021 | |
64 | Colin Donian | 1927 | |
65 | Iniel Hattingh | 1883 | |
66 | Hein Botes | 1862 | |
67 | Abraham Meyer | 1857 | |
68 | Riaan Van Niekerk | 1770 | |
69 | Frederick Smith | 1769 | |
70 | Mark Pieterse | 1735 | |
71 | Francois Botha | 1718 | |
72 | Nicolas Goddard | 1698 | |
73 | Gordon Radey | 1679 | |
74 | De Villiers Groenewald | 1634 | |
75 | Wilhelm Nauta | 1619 | |
76 | Greg Davis | 1573 | |
77 | Karel Mouton | 1501 | |
78 | Erik Smuts | 1380 | |
79 | Andre Eksteen | 1369 | |
80 | Wayne Booysen | 1368 | |
81 | Wolfgang Sittig | 1346 | |
82 | Mark Bridges (FPC) | 1323 | |
83 | Mark Olivier | 1285 | |
84 | Ferdi Potgieter | 1139 | |
85 | Marius Strydom | 1093 | |
86 | Julien Van Der Pluym | 1077 | |
87 | Malcolm Meintjes | 969 | |
88 | Jonathan Ralph | 948 | |
89 | Mark Atkins | 542 |

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