Robyn De Groot bagged a top ten spot in a star-studded line-up at the UCI MTB Marathon World Champs in Germany.

Despite being in the company of world-class athletes such as Anika Langvad, Sabine Spitz, Jolanda Neff, Esther Suss and Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa, Robyn De Groot managed a respectable 10th place at the UCI MTB Marathon World Championships held in Germany last weekend – proving her worth as the National Champ.

Despite a few hiccups and a bout of ill health leading up to the event De Groot was chuffed at how things worked out.

“I have to be honest, I haven’t had the best prep leading up to Worlds as I did have a little bit of a difficult period. I am happy with the top ten though, considering how I have been feeling on the bike over the past few weeks. I’m happy with how I rode yesterday but I definitely know that I can do better. I’m leaving feeling inspired and super motivated to up my game and do better next time.”

Cape Town local, Carmen Buchacher, representing Austria finished just ahead of Amy Beth McDougall who managed to secure 15th spot while Ariane Lüthi came in a few seconds later in 16th position.

In the end it was Anika Langvad who came up victorious again, adding another rainbow jersey to the XCO World Championship title she won last year. She was followed closely by Germany’s Sabine Spitz (2nd) and Norway’s Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjaa (3rd).

The men’s race was a genuine clash of the titans with Austria’s Alban Lakata, Portugal’s Tiago Ferreira and Austria’s Daniel Geismayr claiming the respective gold, silver and bronze medals.

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