Harrismith used to be best known as the halfway stop between Joburg and Durban. But now it’s been upgraded to destination status courtesy of the Mazda MTN Dirty Harry mountain bike race, which takes place there on Saturday.

The small-town peace will be shattered by the beeping of hundreds of heart rate monitors as the country’s top riders gather to tackle the Platberg mountain in one of the toughest races on the calendar. The riders don’t actually ride over Platberg, which is just as well because the 70km race is hard enough just zigzagging around the base of the monolith.

The Free State’s biggest mountain bike race will double as Round 5 of the Mazda MTN National Series. Current men’s Series leader, Kevin Evans (MTN Energade) will be conspicuous by his absence as he is competing in the Tour of Britain road race. Also absent, due to academic commitments, will be Johnny Kritzinger (Schwinn), the revelation of the Series this year, who is currently lying second behind Evans in the rankings.

But the absence of top names is unlikely to hinder the intensity of the battle for Series points. Expect defending Dirty Harry champion, Marc Bassingthwaighte (Garmin DCM) to come out firing after a relatively low-key (by his standards) first half of the year. The Nambian will no doubt be wary of the strong MTN Energade challenge, which comprises Melt Swanepoel and Mannie Heymans, who have both been in superb form in recent weeks.

Also expected to be in the podium mix in the Elite men’s race are Renay Goustra, Dana Coetzee and Rourke Croeser (all Mongoose Red) as well as Johan van Zyl (Mr Price GT), while the Team USN trio of Francois Theron, Brandon Stewart and John Paul Pearton will also be hungry for a real bite of the podium after having only got a sniff of it so far during the 2008 Series.

Defending Dirty Harry women’s champion, Yolande de Villiers (Cycle Lab Toyota) is still recovering from shoulder surgery and Beijing Olympian and reigning national champion, Yolande Speedy (IMC Racing Activeworx) will miss Saturday’s race due to a death in the family, leaving the way clear for a fairly open podium battle.

Tania Raats (Fox) will continue her return to peak form as she recovers from a serious knee injury and will be seeking her second win in the 2008 Series. The KwaZulu-Natalian will be up against, among others, Series leader Carla Rowley (MTN Energade) and the Garmin DCM pair of Yolandi du Toit and Samantha Oosthuizen.

Instead of circling the base of Platberg in a counter-clockwise direction, as in the past, the 70km race will follow a clockwise direction, with the incorporation of more singletrack through nature reserve territory.

There will also be a 33km Ferdevco National Half-marathon event, also the fifth leg of a national series, which has developed into the more popular distance and a perfect nursery for rising young stars, with Bryce Munro (men) and Caitlin de Wet (women) the likely favourites for victory.

There will also be a fun ride for kiddies as well as a variety of activities catering for the whole family. Late entries will be taken at the Platberg Stadium in Harrismith on Friday from 16h00–21h00 and on Saturday from 06h30–08h15.