09 May 2012 Van Wyk thrilled with victory at African Continental Championships, Mauritius
The 2012 African Continental Championships was held on the lovely island of Mauritius on the 5th of May. Team bizhub-FCF’s Junior Linda Van Wyk participated in the ...
Jade Roberts
(January 2010, Clarence Training Camp)
WORLD CUP #6 NOVE MESTO NA MORAVE, CZE.
Round 6 of the UCI XCO World Cup series was held in Czech Republic for the first time. The turn-out of spectators did not disappoint! There literally were thousands of people out on the course ready to cheer on all the international riders. I tried my best to keep a cool head on the morning of race day, but the amazing vibe on the start line just did not allow it. We were nearly 30 starters in the u23 women’s race. The laps were very short, which made it very hard not to get lapped!
I did not have a very good start to the race, so I hung back a bit to try and find my rhythm. After the start loop, I slowly found my legs and started to catch the opposition one by one. Unfortunately, due to the very short laps, the elite women had started to catch us very early in the race, which meant we would have to give way to them in the single tracks. This totally broke my rhythm. By lap 3, I was very frustrated. The course was filled with unforgiving, slippery roots and man-made rock gardens, which left very little space for mistakes. It was all about having the power on the ridiculously steep climbs and keeping it smooth on the rooty down hills.
I was eventually pulled from the race with one lap to go. I was not very happy about that, but I’m glad that I kept fighting despite the annoyance of the elite women clashing with our racing. In the end, I finished 20th and managed to move 3 spots up on the overall u23 ranking from 24th to 21st. The final round is next weekend in Val di Sole, Italy. This week will be all about recovery of the mind and body. Having raced the Val di Sole track twice in the past, I’m confident it will be a good weekend for me!
SA RESULTS:
JUNIOR MEN: Luke Roberts 21st
U23 MEN: Rourke Croeser 35th
U23 WOMEN: Mariske Strauss 17th; Caitlin de Wet 20th
