Tuesday 24 June 2014

PE XCO - Gert Heyns

With my XCO season getting off to a slow start this year, I knew that this weekend's result would be very important for World Champs team selection, as we have had some particularly close racing in the u23 men category this year. I was satisfied that my training since Mankele, in the build up to SA XCO Champs next month, went well.

We raced on mostly the same track at Hayterdale Trails as last year. It is a track I really enjoy racing on.
Our race got off to a very fast start with Philip Buys (Scott) putting the hammer down from the first single track. I managed to follow his wheel and we easily opened a gap on the rest of the field. After about two laps I couldn't hold the pace anymore and had to back off a bit. Rourke Croezer (Kargo) caught me and after a good tumble in the rock garden I found myself in 3rd on my own.



I managed to stay consistent for the remaining laps to bring home 3rd overall and 1st u23, a solid result that should hopefully secure me a spot for the World Champs in September, one of my big goals for this year.
My team mate Arno did well to grit it out and hang on to a 6th place, despite being ill in the run-up to the race. Alan Hatherly completely dominated the junior race again. We were all well served by our Pinarello bikes and High5 nutrition.

Next weekend I'm going to give the Marathon World Championship in Pietermaritzburg a go, sounds like we can expect a tough 90km race and with almost 100 of the world's marathon specialists in the mix, it certainly isn't going to be easy!

Gert

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