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 ...



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09/05/2012
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 championships after having been selected for the South Africa National Team.

“After my satisfying result at Fountains last month, I reconsidered to give it a go” commented Linda. “It’s is not every day that I have such an opportunity to go to an island to race my bicycle. With the help of bizhub-FCF, Cycling South Africa and my mother we quickly got the administration done. I was set to go to Mauritius to continue building on my cycling career.

With only a short four hour flight and about an hour’s drive to our lovely hotel, I quickly saw that it was a great place to clear your head for a race. The food was great and the view I woke up to every day was breathtaking. On the Thursday before the race we rode about 15kms to the track at Casela Yemen Nature Reserve. It was a beautiful venue and it was similar to a scene in the Madagascar movie. The track had a relatively flat start leading onto some tight single track and a very steep 300m climb. The downhill thereafter was thorny with a few small drops. I was confident to believe that the track suited me. I decided not to go to the track on Friday as I knew that tiring my legs would cost me.

I felt strong in the morning and I knew the snap in my legs were there. I kept myself calm at the start and I was determined to put the hammer down from the start, no matter the circumstances.

When the gun was off, I once more had an ordinary to poor start. I was in last position when we turned into the first jeep track leading to the first single track. About two minutes into the race I passed all my competition. I wanted to play it safe in the single track as a small mistake could set me far back. I kept the pace steady on the climb as I knew that Nicole Erasmus was not far behind. From the top of the climb I opened the gap and just kept it steady. I was lying in third overall place in the women’s race, behind Candice Neethling and Aurelie Halbwachs. My energy levels dipped a bit on the second lap. On the downhill of the last lap I saw some slime squirting out of my tire. I froze at first, but I knew I had to stop to spin my wheel to seal it. Luckily it did and I only lost about a few seconds. The route to the end was flat so I put my head down and endured the last few minutes of pain on my way to victory. There is no doubt about it that I had to work extra hard to finish in first place”.

At the finish Linda was congratulated by the Mauritian Cycling Federation’s president and all the other South Africans. “At first I was overwhelmed by the whole situation, but sad too that I could not share the moment with my family. The support from all the other South Africans was remarkable and it meant a lot.

This was a near perfect race for me in a perfect place. This is something that I will remember forever and it has made a big mark in my cycling career”.
 
Ischen Stopforth Leana de Jager
Yolandi du Toit Nicci Grobler
Lindi Dorfling Cashandra Slingerland
Cathy Colyn Monique Gerber
Linda van Wyk Marissa Stander
Linn Torp Catherine Williamson
Lilandi Swanepoel
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