Tuesday 29 October 2013

Successful end to the USN Cup Series and Speedy shines at the Cape Pioneer.

Last Saturday, the final leg of the popular USN Cup Series took place at an all-new venue, Modderfontein. The majority of the course was single track which was enjoyable for every level of cyclist. Once again the Academy had a strong showing on the podium.
In the 50km, Francois Ebersohn showed great form when he came 2nd overall and 1st Vet. Edwill O’Neill had an excellent race, coming 7th overall and 3rd U23.


Amy McDougall placed 2nd lady and 1st Senior.  “I enjoyed all the single track and USN put on a great event!” Andrea de Boer had a strong ride coming 2nd senior lady. “The course was amazing, the fast flowing single track made for a fun race and really tested one's single track technique and fitness.”


In the 30km half marathon, Jacques Pretorius once again stood on the podium.  He came 3rd Junior. He has become a regular on the podium in the USN Cup series with consistently great results throughout the year. “I loved the route and had a lot of fun on the fast flowing single track. I was happy to have achieved another podium in the USN Cup series.”


Danielle Rheeder added two more golds to her collection by winning the ladies race overall, as well as the junior ladies race. “The track was fast and flowing. I enjoyed the single track a lot! I am chuffed to win the USN series. Thanks to ASG PYcycling for the support.”


The Cape Pioneer which is a 7 day stage race that has been growing in prestige and rivalling the ABSA Cape Epic in difficulty and beauty also came to an end last Saturday. Last year Yolande Speedy teamed up with Yolande de Villiers where they were the eventual elite women’s winners. This year they teamed up again and proved to be a formidable force when they finished 3rd and first South African pairing.  In the 14km prologue, they placed 3rd to RE:CM Davinci’s Swiss/Danish paring of Ariane Kleinhans and Annika Langvad and Wheeler – BMC’s Swiss  Jane Nuessli and Esther Suss respectively. This set the tone for the rest of the race duelling with the South African pairing of Robyn DeGroot and Ischen Stopforth swapping in between 3rd and 4th spots. The event once again tested rider’s strength, equipment and mental toughness in a rain scattered week which made some super difficult and long stages often with bikes finishing with no brakes and even derailleurs!  In the final stage Speedy and De Villiers came 4th and kept their 3rd in GC. “The weather conditions made this year’s Cape Pioneer a tough one for both riders and equipment. I was really grateful to be riding my Dogma which has been super reliable and gave minimal technical problems! This was my second Cape Pioneer with Yolande De Villiers and I thoroughly enjoyed our partnership, a big thanks to her for pulling me through a couple of tough days. We were happy to finish 3rd overall! Thanks to Ostrich Meat SA, our race mechanic, Solly and sponsors ASG_PYCycling, ASG Sport, Epic Sports Bike Shop,  Continental tyres, Bicycle Power SA, Squirt Lube and Bicicletta for all the support! ”


The USN Cup Series has been a great platform for the youngsters in the academy to learn what it takes to perform consistently throughout a series and to improve on previous results, achieving personal goals. It has been an enjoyable series for everyone and has provided the Academy with great coverage throughout the year! The Academy won the series overall in 3 Categories and a 2nd in one other including the overall win from Arno DuTiot which we are very proud of.

Also last weekend our World Champion Neville won his category at the Msunduzi Road Challenge ITT giving him some practice, showing off his stripes and qualifying him for next year’s world champs.

Next up for our riders is the final leg of the Nissan series which will be held at Cornwall Hill and then Wines2Whales so still keeping busy at the end of what has been a very long season.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.