USN Cup #3 - Jacques Pretorius

I really wanted to win the USN Cup #3 because of the badluck I had at the previous two events. It was a very chilly morning, but by the time we lined up for the start it was already turning into a hot day. This time, unlike the first two USN Cup races there was a big time gap between the 50 km riders and the 30 km riders I was very happy about it ‘cause it meant fast and fair racing for us. We started with a 1 km neutral zone, after the neutral zone I put in a hard effort to split the field. About 2 km later it was just me and Raymond Wagener. I did not know him and did not know how strong he is. I soon realised that he was very strong on the climbs and it was hard for me to hold on. This is when I knew that I was going to need all the help I could get and reached for my high5 energy gel to keep the legs turning hard. 

We were taking turns to ride on the front, and managed tomake a huge time gap on the rest of the field. After the 5 km to go mark the pace got harder I took the lead to insure that I had control over the pace. The single track to the finish was very fast and plenty of fun! When I saw the cars and tents I put in an attack with little success but I kept pushing hard at the front. I managed to take the win in a sprint finish. I am very happy with my win! Well done to my teammates who got their podium spots despite all of the chaos in the 50 km finish