In-form pair target extreme MTB titles at The Herald Cycle Tour

Gqeberha pro Marco Joubert will be eyeing the top step of the podium in the 80km Extreme event at The Herald Cycle Tour MTB Race from the Addo Polo Club on Sunday. Photo: Eugene Coetzee

All roads will lead to Addo when mountain biking enthusiasts gear up for the return of the The Herald Cycle Tour Mountain Bike Race from the Addo Polo Club at 6am on Sunday.

After its postponement due to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021, the race returns to the beautiful mountains of the Addo region as South Africa's top athletes tackle the gruelling 80km Extreme race.

The event - hosted by Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality - will also feature the 60km Adventure and 30km Leisure as well as the 5km and 500m junior races.

Gqeberha pro Marco Joubert, who finished third in 2020 behind Gert Heyns and Nicol Carstens, will be looking to go even better.

Earlier this week, the Imbuko-TypeDev rider said he felt happy with some of the performances he had put up of late.

"It is so great to see that the race is returning this year," he said.

"The last two years have been difficult, but for the locals to have The Herald race return is awesome because we have missed it."

When the initial lockdown began in 2020, Joubert said, it had given him a chance to step back and refocus.

"When the first wave hit, we still continued to train . . . but I don't think people anticipated how long the lockdown would be.

"In 2021, my focus switched away from pushing the body too hard and just focusing on the smaller things, before we started working on getting back the speed as 2021 came around.

"Now I am feeling quite confident with my form and will be ready to race come Sunday."

Joubert claimed third place overall in the recent Tankwa Trek four-day race in a field that included world champion cross country rider Nino Schurter and defending Cape Epic champion Matt Beers.

"There was some good competition in that [Tankwa] race and I was so glad I managed to stick with the big boys.

"Now, a week later, we are preparing for another tough race, so hopefully the fatigue from the last race will not have too much of an effect on my race," he said.

Defending women's champion Yolande de Villiers will also be itching to get back on the start line as she looks to defend the title she won in early January, 2020.

"It is great that the race will finally take place again after missing last year, that things are slowly starting to go back to normal, but also that we are being able to race again more regularly," she said on Thursday.

Having already achieved two wins - at the Attakwas Extreme and Tankwa Trek four-day race - this season, De Villiers said she was feeling in fine form heading into the weekend.

"The competition is going to be tough for sure, so it will force me to leave it all out on the course," she said.

"I am sure there will be quite a few competitive ladies who will be looking to take the title from me.

"Cycling is always difficult and anything can happen on a mountain bike but, in saying that, my preparations have been good and I am definitely up for a fight and ready to give my best to defend the title."

Late MTB entries will be accepted at the registration venue at R650 an entry (excluding children's races) and only MTB race packs may be collected this weekend.

Road packs will be distributed on the following weekend only.