Eight of the 23 riders selected to represent South Africa at this year’s UCI MTB World Championships will be making their debut appearances at a UCI World Championship event.
CyclingSA is proud to announce the full Team South Africa contingent that have qualified and are set to race at Val di Sole, Italy, from 25 – 29 August 2021.
Junior Women
- Andrea Schofmann – XCO (debut) – Ranked 8th in the UCI XCO Junior Women’s World Rankings
- Madison Mann – XCO (debut)
Junior Men
- Kai Von During – XCO (debut) – Ranked 6th in the UCI XCO Junior Men’s World Rankings
- Gunther Katzke – XCO (debut)
- Luca Ruwiel – XCO (debut)
- Matthew Scott – XCO (debut)
- Martin Vermeulen – DHI (debut)
Under 23 Women
- Danielle Strydom – XCO
Under 23 Men
- Keagan Bontekoning – XCO
- Unathi Nxumalo – XCO (debut)
- Daniel Van Der Walt – XCO
- Johan Van Zyl – XCO
Elite Women
- Candice Lill – XCO
- Mariske Strauss – XCO
- Frances Du Toit – DHI
- Sabine Thies – DHI
Elite Men
- Alan Hatherly – XCO – Ranked 9th in the UCI Elite Men’s XCO World Rankings
- Matthew Beers – XCO
- Arno du Toit – XCO
- Greg Minnaar – DHI – Ranked 5th in the UCI Elite Men’s DHI World Rankings
- Theo Erlangsen – DHI
- Cullen McMaster – DHI
- Johann Potgieter – DHI
The 2021 Championships marks the first time that the new MTB World Champions will be crowned in six disciplines at the same event. In addition to Cross Country (XCO), Team Relay (XCR), Downhill (DHI), Four-Cross (4X), and Electric-MTB (E-MTB), from 2021, the International Cycling Union (UCI) has introduced Short Track (XCC) in the Mountain Bike World Championships program.
The 2021 Southern Africa XCO & DHI Cup Series, hosted by CyclingSA, have allowed athletes based in Southern Africa to race several UCI categorised events following the limited event schedule due to the coronavirus pandemic. This Series also allowed riders from neighbouring countries to collect points for their respective selection campaigns.
UCI points earned by the Junior and Elite athletes count towards their World ranking, which determines their start grid position at the UCI World Cup events and any UCI-sanctioned races.
Click here to view the long list of athletes considered for selection and here to download the CyclingSA MTB Selection Policy & Criteria.
