With an unplanned for, but rather successful Sani2c experience behind me, it was once again time to prepare for another little 90 minute showdown. Round three of the SA XCO Cup Series, this time held at Mankele MTB Park just up the road from Nelspruit.
I realised my team mate and friend Gert Heyns must have been
bored with riding in George or very excited after he booked accommodation for
us at Sudwala from last week Tuesday already. Even though I had the opportunity
to practice the course like a mad man, I knew that Sani was still in my legs
and tried my best to take it easy for most of the week.
Friday morning Gert and I followed Matthys Beukes (Scott)
around the technical and rather old school 6.9km lap. Confidence was running
high with a couple of guys racing World Cups in Europe, we all knew this was a
chance to gain points and crawl up the UCI ranking list. With this in mind I
decided to use the bullet proof Continental X-King tyres front and back.
Also the endless amount of grip wouldn’t do any harm on the kind of terrain we had to conquer.
Also the endless amount of grip wouldn’t do any harm on the kind of terrain we had to conquer.
The pro elite field was quite small, but I’m sure the racing
didn’t disappoint. Between Gert and Brendon Davids (Trek) throwing punches at
one another I just kept my head down and tried to stay in contact. Half way
through the first lap Brendon had opened up a slight a gap over Gert and I, but
we managed to bring him back on the downhill.
From here on things were slightly tactical. I didn’t really
play any cards early on, but with Travis Walker (Kargo) yo-yoing behind us and
Matthys not far off, I knew we couldn’t sit and look at each other.
On lap 4 I started the climb in front hoping to set a steady pace, but Gert had a different idea. He sprinted past and as we went into a tricky section about half way up the climb in 1st and 2nd, we noticed whoever was following me had made a mistake. Towards the top I looked back and saw that we had the other 2 under pressure with a slight gap. Gert let me through and I somehow managed to open a gap on the downhill.
Rolling through the start/finish for the last time, I gulped
down another High5 gel and after a quick look over my shoulder, I gave it all I
had. After 5 grueling laps crossing the finish line of a UCI Cat1 XCO in 1st
place was a very special moment for me. Seeing ASG MTB Academy team mate Gert
right behind me in 2nd, made it even better.
Big thank you to everyone who made it possible and for all
the support.
Till next time
Adt
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