22/02/2011
bizhub ladies gear up for 2011
The bizhub ladies cycling squad welcomed new team members at a training camp held in late January
The woman’s squad has been strengthened in the mountain bike department with the addition of some of the top young riders in the country. Candice Neethling and Caitlin De Wet have joined the squad. Both riders form part of the SASCOC high performance program for the 2010 Olympic Games. Candice finished 3rd in her first junior year at the World Cross Country championships is seen by many as the future Queen of SA mountain biking. Candice recently won the u/23 Cross Country Championships and finished 2nd in the 3rd leg of the MTN Marathon series. She is showing great maturity on the bike.
Both Candice and Caitlin will be spending time in the international circuit this year where they will be competing in the World Cup Cross Country series. Candice will have the added bonus of wearing her African Continental Championship jersey at these events.
Another new mountain biker to join the existing ranks is Nicci Grobler. Nicci was scouted by team manager Robertson last year and although she is spent only nine months riding she has already come away with her first victory at the Emperors Classic MTB challenge “Nicci comes from an athletics background” said Robertson when asked about his new protégé “We are trying to look for new cycling talent from other sporting arena’s in a similar manner which is used by the British and Australian high performance program”.
Yolandi du Toit who is referred to by many as “the face of Team bizub”, remains with the team together Dr. Ischen Stopforth.
In the road department, the team has retained the services of their international stars rider Catherine Williamson (GB) and the Norwegian Linn Thorp. Catherine has already displaced her class and versatility this year by finished 2nd in both the EP Herald and Ride for Sight two of the biggest classics on the South African Calender. She recently finished 4th if her first ever MTB Marathon at Claren’s “It was the toughest thing I’ve ever done” said Catherine about the event” but I’ll be back for more”.
Ex-Olympic and twice Norwegian National Champion Linn is working on her form for the Cape Argus, the biggest one day event on the SA Calendar. “Both the Argus and Momentum 94.7 are big objectives for me “said Linn “It’s a challenge coming from the Norwegian winter to sunny South Africa”.
In addition to Linn and Cath another new rider from Port Elizabeth, Lindi Erasmus has joined the road squad. The squad continues to future stars of the sport. Lilandi Swanepoel who surprised many with her win at the 2010 SA junior TT Championships and a 2nd place in the road race has remained with the team; she is joined by young rider Liani Swanepoel.
The final addition to the team is first year U/16 Monique Gerber, Monique recently won both the U/16 SA Time Trail Championship and road titles in Port Elizabeth, but what made her achievement even more astonishing is that she beat the junior champion three years her senior by over 50secs in the 10km time trail. In the road race she also beat all comers including the junior national champion.
“Monique has great talent and the right mental approach to be a top professional in coming years” said Robertson about the young rider “her current times on the track are comparable to what Nicole Cooke was riding at the same age”. Nicole Cooke has won both the world road race championships and the previous Olympic Games.
The 11 rider squad will ride Specialized equipment, equipped with SRAM components and Mavic wheel sets in 2011.
Peugeot South Africa has also continued their sponsorship of the team in 2011 by providing the team with vehicles.
“We will be focusing on both the road and mountain biking disciplines and the squad has been put together with these goals in mind,” he said at the recent launch in Johannesburg.
“We have both a challenging and busy year ahead of us” said Robertson. One of the reasons for having a strong MTB team is the establishment of so many new MTB events on the SA Calendar. The squad will be entering teams into the majority of the big MTB Tours including, Cannondale 300, Joberg2C, Sani2C, Lord of the Rings and Wine2Whales to name but a few.
Catherine Williamson will be racing the Cape Epic in a mixed team named bizhub-Pepto Pro, together with partner Carel Bosman. “The men’s teams and mixed teams at the Cape Epic, the world’s biggest multi stage event receive the lion’s share of exposure. It seems the obvious way for us to go” said Robertson.
The team is hoping to spend some time racing in Europe later this year, The woman’s team is becoming a successful brand in its own right and we are hopeful that Konica Minolta Europe will see value in the brand which we have created.
The printing giant Konica Minolta remains the longest running sponsor of pro cycling in the country, yet although it has been the longest the team has most certainly adapted and evolved with the changing times.
Aside from the team’s busy mountain biking program the team will continue with their focus on some of the country’s leading one day Classics including the Cape Argus and Momentum 94.7.
“We have a great squad this year containing both experience depth and youth. Building on our successes of 2010 we are looking forward to an even more exciting 2011!
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