Burry Stander came up trumps in the first round of the SA national series mountainbike competition at the weekend.
Stander, a 2008 Olympian in Beijing, tamed the tough course at Rietvlei near Alberton, and ended up a comfortable winner.
The reigning under-23 world MTB champion covered the course in 1hr 57min 59sec for a gaping gap of 5:18 over Elite rider Philip Buys.
Third was Marc Bassingthwaighte, a further 28 seconds adrift.
“On Friday I got to do some practice laps which was needed as I haven’t been on an cross-country course in a while and this one was pretty technical,” said Stander. “There wasn’t much climbing but it had continuous steep climbs which were super rocky.
“It did feel good however to be on some Specialized XC tires and this made the going easier. I also got my new Garmin 500. Its very similar to the Edge 705 but it also has temperature now and is way smaller and lighter.
“The race went very well for me. Phillip Buys (Garmin-adidas) rode away on the first lap and I managed to go solo on the second. It seems my form is really coming around now. After the race I was off to doping control, something I feel is very healthy for our sport.”
The next day Stander was back at it, this time on the road, in the Emperors Palace Classic.
“The race was very fast and flat and eventually it came down to a bunch sprint. Luckily for me there was a long uphill drag just before the line and I managed a fourth spot on my Tarmac SL2 which I’m feeling really good on with SA road champs coming up in less than two weeks.
Article Source: http://www.sascoc.co.za/
