Can Pretorius improve on her recent performances?

Ten days ago An-Li Pretorius (MTN-Energade) finished third in the women’s race of the Carousel Classic and five days ago she was second in the EPR Cycle Challenge.

The question now is whether Pretorius will again be able to go one better and achieve victory during Saturday’s Lost City Classic (21 August 2010).

This petite rider is quietly confident that she might just be able to pull off her first major victory as a pro-cyclist, but she correctly points out that in cycling nothing can be taken for granted before the finishing line is crossed.

Pretorius was 4th in last year’s Lost City race.

Cycling has not always been her favourite sport.

At school she was considered to be an up and coming multi-sport athlete. She was a World Champion in biathlon (running and swimming) in her age-group, as well as a World Champion in duathlon (running and cycling), also in her age-group.

But then, in November 2006, a stupid driver behind the steering wheel of a motor car ended Pretorius’s dream of representing South Africa at the Olympic Games as a triathlete.

Pretorius said that she and a few friends were on a training ride on the Moloto road north of Pretoria, when this reckless driver decided to overtake a taxi on the left hand side of the road, going into the yellow lane.

“I did not realize what was happening until the guy drove into the back of my bicycle.”

Pretorius considers herself extremely lucky. She could have been killed, but apart from being quite badly concussed the worst of her injuries were a fracture in her tibia and torn ligaments in her right knee.

The bad news for the talented youngster was that her running career was, for all practical purposes, something of the past. This in effect meant that her career as a multi-sport athlete also came to an abrupt end.

However, Pretorius is a fighter. She did not even consider leading a life without sport. She was also not prepared to give up on her Olympic dream. Therefore, on her doctor’s advice, she re-invented herself as a cyclist.

Her cycling career started in August 2007 when she competed in the Carousel Race for the first time.

“I know it will take another few years before I will be good enough to represent South Africa at the Games, but I am prepared to put in the long hours and hard work to make my dream a reality.”

Last year Pretorius’s best result was a second-place finish in the 94.7. She also won the SA Student Road Championship race.

The battle for supremacy on local soil intensifies

The battle for supremacy on tar intensified over the past weekend (14-15 August 2010) when the riders of MTN-Energade and Medscheme took their ‘battle’ to the roads of the West Rand during the EPR Cycle Challenge, which finished on the Tarlton International Raceway.

This time round it was Medscheme who took the victory. Arran Brown outsprinted Reinhardt Janse van Rensburg (MTN-Energade) to win the race over 120km in 2 hours 59 minutes and 52 seconds. Kachelhoffer (Medscheme) finished third.

Last Monday Bradley Potgieter won the Carousel Classic.

Janse van Rensburg is not too disappointed with the way the race finished.

“The gap between Arran and me is certainly getting smaller. This time he only beat me by half a bike length in the sprint to the line. It now seems to be just a matter of time before I outsprint Arran.”

According to Janse van Rensburg the wind again was a major factor.

“Because of the wind a group of about twelve riders managed to get away in a break. This was definitely to my advantage because I am always more confident of a podium finish in a small breakaway. Over the last few kilometers, the main challenge for me was to remain focused and make sure that I was not caught napping.”

This weekend will be a busy weekend for the ‘boys in yellow’.

On Saturday they will be competing in the Lost City Classic.

Janse van Rensburg predicts that the race will finish in a big bunch sprint.

“It is no really what I prefer, but I will nevertheless give my all in the sprint. Who knows? I might just surprise myself. Anyway, there will not be much time to celebrate any good results, because we will be back in our team cars about an hour after the race, and racing to get to Durban in time.

“On Sunday we will be competing in the Engen-Dynamic Classic. I am looking forward to the race because the course will be much more hilly, which will make it easier to get away in a break.”

Annriette Schoeman (Toyota-Cyclelab) won the women’s race over the weekend. An-Li Pretorius (MTN-Energade) was second and Lizanne Naude also (Toyota-Cyclelab) third.

Evans reflects after UCI MTB World Marathon Championships

A ‘virus’ was the reason why Kevin Evans (MTN-Energade) did not perform as well as he would have liked at the pro-elite race (over 107km) of the UCI Marathon World Championship in St Wendel, Germany.

Evans, who finished 8th overall in last year’s World Championship, was restricted to the 25th position this year.

But he at least has the satisfaction that he was able to play a small part in the victory of his Cape Epic team-mate, Alban Lakata (Austria).

According to Evans Lakata had a really bad start to his race.

“He battled to stay in touch with the slowest of the group of front riders. At times it was so bad that I even had to push him to help him not to lose contact with the front guys. Alban told me that his legs were totally ‘locked’ and that he just did not have any power in them.

“I was thinking: ‘Shame, this poor bloke had such high expectations of winning and it is simply not going to happen this year. He is not going anywhere.’

“But as the race progressed, Alban seemed to get stronger. During the last 40 kilometers Alban was going faster and faster all the time, so much so that I did not have the legs to keep up with him. Even when he dropped me, I still did not believe that he had a chance of winning.

“Needless to say, when I finished it was a huge surprise to learn that Alban had in fact won.”

Evans said his problems began when he represented the South African road team on a tour in Spain.

“I became ill during the tour and, unfortunately for me, I just could not get rid of the virus. In the build-up to the World Championship, I was able to train for three or four days but then I had to take a break to recover again.

“My race did not begin too badly. I managed to stay with the top riders during the first 70km, but then my legs just seemed to die. Towards the end I had nothing left.

“Ironically, my time was a minute closer to that of the winner than it had been last year, but as far as positions are concerned I slipped 17 places.

“The World Championship course was a big surprise for me. It was not technical at all. It definitely suited a cross-country style of riding because of the constant up and down sections.”

Evans said that he is definitely going to reconsider his cycling goals for next year.

“Unfortunately, I allowed myself to become somewhat distracted during the season, trying to excel on too many fronts, and in the process I forgot which goals really mattered.

“I am seriously going to rethink my participation in road races next year. I cannot sacrifice myself again for nothing. Next year I might just focus on winning the Cape Epic and winning a medal at the World Marathon Championship.”

As far as the rest of the year is concerned, there is only one race that Evans really wants to win and that is the MTN Ultra-marathon in Cullinan.

“If I should be able to win this race or have a good placing, it would give me an overall victory in the MTN series and then there would not be any pressure on me for the rest of the season.

“My last race this season will be the DCM Cape Pioneer Trek (18-23 October) which I will ride with Adrian Niyonshuti. He plans to use this tour as his final preparation for the Tour of Rwanda, so I will ride as fast as Adrian is prepared to go.”

USN SHOWS PRETORIA CHARITIES IT’S SOFT SIDE

When you think of USN, you relate it to lean, toned bodies and successful professional sportsmen and women, all benefiting from the brand’s cutting-edge, scientifically researched sports nutrition.

But South Africa’s leading sports and healthy lifestyle nutrition brand showed its soft side with a recent Pretoria region charity donation drive, targeting children’s homes, homes for the aged and the Salvation Army with its nourishing energy bars and sports drinks.

USN donated Active Sports Drink and Energy Harvest Bars, which benefited over 1600 people, to: Jacaranda Children’s Home, Abused And Abandoned Kids Educational Excursions, Huis Vergenoeg Retirement Home, Harmony Hof Retirement Village and the Salvation Army Divisional Headquarters.

“Normally these underprivileged people wouldn’t have access to these products, which made it a real treat for them,” said Renee Hughes USN’s Special Projects Co-ordinator. “Obviously our products have very high nutrition value and offer all the essential vitamins and minerals required for to maintain good health – it was good to be able to give something that would benefit each one individually.”

At the Jacaranda Children’s Home, USN staff set up just in time for lunch and gave out hot dogs – in addition to USN Energy Bars and USN Active Sports Drinks – to the excited children, aged between 3 and 18. The children are mainly placed in the home by the children’s court due to neglect, abandonment, physical or emotional abuse.

“The smiles, excitement and appreciation shown by the kids made us realise just how much most kids take for granted. It truly was a heart-warming experience for USN to be able to brighten their lives, even it if was momentarily,” said Rion Goosen, USN National Sponsorship Co-ordinator.

DCM Cape Pioneer Trek benefits the community in more ways than one

‘We really do care.’

This could easily have been the official motto for the six-day DCM Cape Pioneer Trek mountain-bike tour that will take place in the Klein Karoo from 18 to 23 October.

If one talks to the Dryland Events Management and to one of the main sponsors, Klein Karoo International, it becomes clear that the motivation for the six-day mountain-bike tour is certainly not to benefit just a few people.

The build-up to the tour is geared towards making a difference in the lives of the people of the local communities, as well as towards promoting nature conservation.

But it is equally important for the organizers to ensure that every rider who enters for the tour will enjoy the ride of his life.

Henco Rademeyer from Dryland does not hesitate to point out that the Cape Pioneer is a tour of total contrasts.

“During this tour the riders will have the opportunity to ride through some of the most beautiful forests in the area and they will have to conquer some really tough climbs as well. But once they reach the Groot Karoo, they will experience near desert conditions where they will be able to see miles and miles ahead of them.

“A definite highlight will be at Mossel Bay where they will be riding right on the beach for approximately 10 kilometers.”

After every stage the riders will overnight in tent villages which will form part of the Tour’s vision of making a difference in the local communities.

“Do you know that 70% of our scholars are from previously disadvantaged communities? At the moment most of the schools battle to make ends meet, because funding to these schools are limited and most of these learners’ parents struggle to help in this regard,” Rademeyer said.

“We are fully aware of this. That is why one of our goals is to make sure that the schools will benefit directly from the Tour. This year about 3 500 pupils, from seven high schools in six towns, will be involved with setting up and running the tent villages for the riders.

“KHS will sponsor 800 tents with all the necessary ablution facilities for the tent villages.

“Klein Karoo International will donate the meat to the different schools to enable them to prepare meals for the riders and spectators. S A Breweries will sponsor beer gardens every night to enable the schools to make a profit.

“We will also train jobless people to work as security guards in the tent villages.”

“Last year the schools managed to make healthy profits to enable them to address certain needy issues.”

Potgieter triumphs over the sprinters in tough and windy conditions

Every rider who is prepared to put in long hours of training will eventually have his moment of glory on the winner’s podium.

Bradley Potgieter (MTN-Energade), who won the Carousel Classic on Monday (9 August), can vouch for that.
2010 certainly did not start out well for the young rider. On 5 February, when he was on his way to join his team-mates for a training session, he was involved in a motor car accident.

He broke his wrist and foot in the accident, and also fractured an ankle. This meant that he could not resume his training before the end of March.

Listening to Potgieter when he talks about his career as a pro-cyclist, it becomes clear that he firmly believes that there is no letter ‘I’ in the word ‘team’. When he gets onto his bike to race, his main motivation is to do whatever it takes to ensure a victory for his team.

To sum up, Potgieter is the one rider who is prepared to sacrifice himself time and again for the benefit of his team. Therefore, it is not surprising that the Carousel Classic was Potgieter’s first victory of the season.
“I have to admit that I did enjoy winning the Carousel Classic, especially because I am not often in a position to win a race.
“But, come the next race, it will be business as usual for me. I will be there to help the sprinters or climbers in my team. However, if the opportunity should arise, I certainly would go for a victory again.”
According to Potgieter, Monday’s race developed into a titanic battle between the riders of MTN-Energade and Medscheme.

“The windy conditions certainly made the racing extra hard. The Medscheme riders’ intention was to have the rest of us riding in the gutter. They were quite successful in their effort, because after about 40 kilometers of racing there were only about 20 riders left to battle it out for overall victory.

“The deciding moment occurred when Hanco Kachelhoffer (Medscheme) attacked with 10 kilometers to go. I managed to stay with him and then Pieter Seyffert also joined us. We stayed in front until the end when I outsprinted Hanco to achieve victory.”

USN THROWS A LIFELINE TO SA WOMEN’S CYCLING CHAMP

Cherise Taylor, a Beijing Olympian and the 2010 South African women’s road cycling champion, has been thrown a lifeline by leading nutrition supplement brand, USN, following the premature disbandment of her team.

Taylor was the star rider on Team Nashua women’s professional team, but the team’s management ran into financial trouble in June and failed to secure additional sponsors to carry the team financially until the end of the year.

Taylor, 20, a full-time professional cyclist, found herself without a job at the end of July and USN, previously Team Nashua’s nutrition supplement sponsor, offered to give her a full sponsorship for the remainder of 2010.

“I would like to thank USN for being such a great supporter, not only now, but over the past few years,” said a relieved Taylor, who was recently selected to represent South Africa at the Commonwealth Games, which take place in India in October.

“I also want to thank Nashua and our other team sponsors for their support and want people to know that it was in no way the fault of Nashua, or any of our other sponsors, that the team folded. It was a team management issue – quite unfortunate really, because women’s road cycling has never been this strong and needs to have professional teams in place to ensure it continues to grow.”

“Cherise has achieved so much already in her short career and we feel that she has a long way to go in achieving her potential. It’s important to ensure she has no interruptions in her progress and we are pleased to be able to offer her the support she needs at this time,” said Albe´ Geldenhuys, USN founder and chairman.

“We’ve noticed that Cherise has always been a great ambassador for her sponsors in general and USN in particular. She is a true professional and we are proud to be associated with her.”

This was the second time Taylor has won the Elite women’s national road race title. She first won it in 2008 at the age of 18, just a few weeks after she became the youngest ever winner of the Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour. In 2006 she won the silver medal at the Junior Women’s World Road Race Championships, held in Mexico.

Taylor departs for Europe with the South African team on Thursday to compete in three high profile international events.

CYCLE LAB FLAGSHIP STORE GETS AN UPGRADE

The original branch of Cycle Lab, South Africa’s largest cycling and healthy lifestyle retail chain, was officially re-opened on Tuesday (27 July). The Fourways, Johannesburg branch of the franchise, the flagship store in the chain, has been expanded in size (800 square metres) and redesigned with fresh shop fittings and modern lighting to make it more lifestyle-shopper friendly.

This is in keeping with Cycle Lab’s quest to be more attractive to cycling newcomers in a market that’s seeing continued growth, despite the economic crisis of 2009.

“At Cycle Lab we believe that cycling has the potential to become the next golf. Our competition is not other cycling retailers, but rather other recreational and participation sports. We have adjusted our strategy to suit this market and designed our stores accordingly,” Cycle Lab founder, Andrew McLean, told a large audience, comprising clients, suppliers, staff and media.

“Effort, energy and passion are the main pillars of the Cycle Lab brand and we believe this is reflected in our new-look store. We also believe firmly in added value and by using our events division and our national cycling club, which has more than 4000 members, we are able to add real value to our clients,” continued McLean.

The former professional cyclist and TV presenter also confirmed that the Sagitta Group, which owns Cycle Lab, has begun importing certain brands, including KTM bicycles, UVEX helmets and eyewear and Rubena tyres. These are retailed only at Cycle Lab stores in South Africa.

“This allows us to cut out the middleman on certain items and offer better prices to consumers. And that’s a constant commitment we’ve made to ensure Cycle Lab clients are always at an advantage,” said McLean.

Greg James, founder and Chairman of the Sagitta Group, paid tribute to McLean for his efforts in being instrumental in getting the brand to it’s current market-leading position.

“Thanks to Andrew for his vision back in 1995 when he started Cycle Lab in an effort to make cycling more accessible to the masses. The brand continues to grow from strength to strength. In the past 18 months since the Sagitta Group acquired Cycle Lab, we have made the stores more family orientated and seen the benefits in the number of people we have helped introduce to cycling.”

Cycle Lab currently has eight retail outlets – three in Cape Town, three in Durban, one in Centurion and one in Johannesburg. A new Cycle Lab store will be opening in Pietermaritzburg soon with plans to open more retail outlets nationwide over the next few years.

“We will either partner with and convert existing cycle shops into Cycle Labs or create completely new Cycle Lab stores in areas where we feel there is a need for a quality cycling and lifestyle centre,” said McLean.