Du Toit delivers at USN Cup #2 and Speedy and McDougall open their stage racing account.

Yolande Speedy and Amy McDougall successfully teamed up for the first time in a stage race, Arno Du Toit defended his title at the USN Cup #2 and more impressive results for the a[s]g MTB Academy this weekend.

In the Leverage Corporation Bridgestone Route 66 MTB Experience, Yolande Speedy and Amy McDougall joined forces for the first time in the 3 day stage race as team a[s]g Pinarello, and proved to be a formidable combination! 

Speedy and McDougall won all 3 stages with an impressive overall lead of 2 hours for the 3 days. The technical 3 day race took place in the heart of the Cradle of human kind and the Magaliesburg mountains with some of the best mountain biking Gauteng has to offer! Day 1 80km, went from Monagan Farm to Van Gaalens Cheese farm. The route was technical with some gnarly rocky descents and kilometres of technical single track, which suited the girls perfectly and separated the “men from the boys”. Day 2 was 70km starting at Van Gaalens and ending at Maropeng. Although it was slightly shorter, there was more climbing, and the heat added to the toughness of the day. Speedy and McDougall finished first again. “Today was really hard but I absolutely love the trails out here, the single track is some of the best our country has to offer. My Pinarello Dogma XC is nippy and responsive making technical ups and downs feel easy!” –McDougall. Day 3 was a fast and furious 60km, it was mainly flat with not many technical sections, the girls worked well together, pacing on the flats and blitzed the field, winning the stage and the overall race with a lead of over 2 hours on the second ladies’ team. “I am very happy to take the win for a[s]g MTB Academy together with Amy at the Bridgestone Route 66 Experience. Great way to start the 2013 stage racing season and a super fun 3 days of racing!” –Speedy

Arno du Toit successfully defended his title at the second leg of the USN Cup series which took place at Red Barn. The 60km race offers a large amount of beautiful foresty single track and a few bridges with some challenging but all rideable sections. Du Toit, up against a strong field, put his head down from the gun, getting an early lead and maintaining it until the finish. His hard work earned him his second win in the USN Cup series. “My plan was to hit it hard from the gun to try and split the field. I was soon by myself, about a minute off the front with a solid group chasing! I settled into a rhythm, kept riding as smoothly as possible through the single track and eventually hung on to take the win”. Paul Cordes came in 4^th overall and 3^rd sub vet. Despite a recent neck injury, Andrea de Boer came 2^nd in the ladies 60km race and Michelle Benson had a fantastic day, finishing 1^st overall lady in the 30km. Jacques Pretorius rounded out the podium count with a 2^nd place junior and 3^rd overall in the 30km event.

At the Babbas Lodge mtb race on Sunday, Edwill O’Neill won the Marathon over all, and Jacques Pretorius won the 30km overall “We got on a tar road that led to the finish and I knew it was now or never, my legs felt good enough to allow me to get out of the saddle and put in a hard effort to get away from the other 2 riders. I crossed the finish line taking overall honours” –O’Neill

There was a highly positive and enthusiastic response to the quality of the Pinarellos, High 5 supplements and CycleOps GPS units from all the academy members and public alike. Although it is still early days, big things are in the pipeline as the riders are growing from strength to strength!