SCHOEMAN WANTS A PODIUM PLACE

Even though he really wants a place on the podium, Henri Schoeman will also be happy with a place in the Top 10 at the ITU Discovery World Series in Cape Town on Sunday 27 April.

Schoeman (23) is the newly crowned African Champion after winning the Championships in Harare, Zimbabwe over the weekend. Richard Murray and Wian Sullwald finished second and third respectively.

Schoeman is very happy with this result after not having the best time regarding injuries the past three months. “I have been dealing with two injury setbacks, one in my knee then one in my ankle. My ankle is not 100% yet but I have been able to do some running. I am happy with my swimming and biking form and I would have liked to be a little bit faster with my running at the moment.  I had a very good race this past weekend and that was a very good confidence booster going into the Cape Town race next weekend. Judging from that performance I think I am happy with my current form and fitness going into WTS Cape Town.”

Schoeman reckons everybody – athletes and spectators – should be ready for some fast paced action. “It will be a flat and fast race in Cape Town. The water temperature might be a factor with it being so cold. It would be ideal if a small group of about 10 athletes could be in front out of the water and in a break away on the bike. I would love to achieve my best result in Cape Town, which would be on the podium. I will still be happy to place amongst the top 10 though.” 

The South African trains with World Champion Javier Gomez from Spain. Gomez along with Michael Phelps are Schoeman’s sporting heroes. “Training with Javier Gomez is really good and truly an eye opening experience. I gain so much knowledge from the way he trains and prepares for big races. Apart from training he is the nicest guy you could ever meet. He is very humble and down to earth which is something I admire about him so much.”

Cross Country World Cup stars sweat it out in Maritzburg heat

The globe’s top cross country mountain biking stars continued their preparations for the opening leg of the 2014 UCI MTB World Cup, presented by Shimano, at Cascades MTB Park in Pietermaritzburg in energy-sapping hot and dry conditions.

The testing weather conditions added to the challenge facing some of the riders faced as they came to terms with the new XCO course, with even the likes of elite women stars Maja Wloszczowska and her Liv Pro X team mate Jolandé Neff coming unstuck in the notorious Tree House rock garden.

South African’s Cherie Vale and Hayley Bell suffered a similar fate through the new Red Lipped Herald section. However all four riders were able to pick themselves up, dust themselves off and carry on going without much more than a bruised ego.

Junior men’s downhillers Innes Graham (MS Mondraker), Gregg Brown of South Africa and Kona Factory Team’s Andrew Crimmins however weren’t quite so lucky as they were forced out of their Friday afternoon qualifying round, and hence the rest of the competition, after suffering injuries in training.

Brown dislocated his shoulder after getting his line wrong in the reworked Cloud 9 stretch whilst Crimmins fractured his patella after getting the Moneymaker hip-jump wrong.

With the heat of the day and the reshuffle of this year’s programme which sees the cross country clashes shifting from their usual Saturday slot to Sunday afternoon and the downhill now Saturday’s focus, some of the elite men’s top performers – including defending World Champ and pre-race favourite Nino Schurter of SCOTT-Odlo MTB Racing – were notable absentees for the duration of the day’s training.

Meanwhile Schurter’s nearest rival, world number two Julien Absalon of BMC MTB Racing, was spotted charging through the more technical sections of the course with the French national champ repeatedly visiting the Tree House rock garden.

With Saturday’s focus being firmly on the downhill finals action, in which Pietermaritzburg’s hometown hero Greg Minnaar will be out to once again conquer both ‘the hill’ and the rest of his fellow title rivals, the cross country stars will quietly go about their final preparations before Sunday’s racing.

The UCI MTB World Cup, presented by Shimano, takes place at the Cascades MTB Park in Pietermaritzburg from 11-13 April 2014. More information can be found at www.mtbworldcupsa.co.za 

Pietermaritzburg set to host three more years of cycling internationals

As the season-opening UCI MTB World Cup got under way on Friday, the city's status as Africa's "Bike City" was entrenched by the announcement of a sweeping programme of international events over until 2018.

CAC President Dr. Mohamed Wagih Azzam, who is the Vice-President of the international Cycling Union (UCI) said from the venue that Pietermaritzburg and South Africa's reputation as a world-class event host was good for Africa, and represented an opportunity to expand the sport's various disciplines across the continent.

"Since we started attracting UCI Events to Africa in 2007, Pietermaritzburg has become the African continent's 'Bike City', and one of only three cities in the world to have this unique status," said Azzam.

"We have established an excellent co-operation with Cycling South Africa, the city of Pietermaritzburg and this province of KwaZulu-Natal, and experienced event organiser Alec Lenferna, which has been very good for Africa as a whole," said Azzam.

"This region has taken an excellent attitude towards cycling events," Azzam added. "With Cycling South Africa being the largest federation in Africa, this makes South Africa the mother of cycling in Africa."

"We need to use this to develop all the cycling disciplines across Africa," he added.

Azzam was excited to confirm that Pietermaritzburg would host the 2016 Para-track championships just before the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and said plans were well advanced to host the BMX World Champs again in the city.

He added that the city will also be hosting the first ever Confederation of African Cycling Forum, which will convene the continental governing body's Congress together meetings of its various commissions and host courses for officials, commissaires and mechanics.

Azzam said that he would be engaging city officials in the coming week on the opportunity to establish a world class cycling track venue.

"Africa lost out on the opportunity to host the track world championships, so the opportunity exists to establish a world class track facility, which will then make Pietermaritzburg capable of hosting all the cycling disciplines."

Lenferna stressed that the plans to develop new cycling facilities in the city were particularly relevant given the plans for the region to host the Commonwealth games and possibly the Olympic Games in years to come.

The UCI MTB World Cup, presented by Shimano, takes place at the Cascades MTB Park in
Pietermaritzburg from 11-13 April 2014. More information can be found at www.mtbworldcupsa.co.za 

Play in the prestigious Duke of Edinburgh Championship in Johannesburg

Entries are now open for the most prestigious annual amateur golf competition in South Africa – Tsogo Sun’s Duke of Edinburgh Championship – which will be contested over both of the Country Club Johannesburg courses, Woodmead and Rockland, on Monday 19 May 2014.

The winning pair from each course will qualify to play in the Duke of Edinburgh Championship World Finals in England during September 2014. The coveted top prize includes a trip to London for the four winners, hotel accommodation for five nights, entry into the Individual World Final and into the World Pairs Trophy for the Duke of Edinburgh Championship, rounds of golf at both Mill Ride Golf & Country Club and The Buckinghamshire Golf Club, an invitation to play at the Royal Household Golf Club at Windsor Great Park and attendance at the prize-giving gala dinner at Windsor Castle attended by a member of the Royal Family.

The Duke of Edinburgh Championship is played in 10 countries around the world, with the South African leg qualifying as one of the most successful in terms of the number of players participating.  The competition has given amateur golfers the opportunity to contribute to charitable causes through Tsogo Sun’s CSI programme which has raised over R8 million since the inception of the competition in 2000.

Kathy Scheepmaker Tsogo Sun’s Project Manager for the tournament says this golf competition is one of the highlights on Tsogo Sun’s annual calendar as it not only helps to make a difference to many needy lives in South Africa but also because it gives local golfers the chance to take their well-earned place alongside other top amateur golfers from around the world.

“Tsogo Sun is all about creating great experiences for all our guests. The Duke of Edinburgh Championship is a truly memorable experience for everyone who participates – and even more so for the winning pairs. We are proud of the role we play in ensuring the success of this tournament worldwide.”

For more details and how to enter, go to www.dukeofedinburgh.co.za.

MTN-QHUBEKA EXCITED TO RACE AT HOME MZANSI TOUR

Apart from the national championships, Team MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung have yet to race in South Africa as a UCI Professional Continental Team. That will all change when the team line up for the Mzansi Tour starting in Johannesburg on Tuesday.

A race that will showcase the beauty and diversity of our home country is one we are extremely excited to take part in. As the saying goes, there is no place like home and Team MTN-Qhubeka p/b Samsung are certainly glad to be home, racing in our backyard once again.

The team have sent an extremely exciting and strong group of riders to take on the Mzansi Tour as it looks to come away with the overall honours. Our national champion, Louis Meintjes, will be able to proudly put the national jersey on display here in South Africa for the first time in 2 years when he heads up the team. Meintjes will be joined by Jacques Janse van Rensburg, Merhawi Kudus, Daniel Teklehaimanot, Youcef Reguigui and Sergio Pardilla who is returning from injury. Team Principal Douglas Ryder will take on the Sports Director responsibilities for the race.

Director Sportif – Douglas Ryder

“As Africa’s only Professional Continental cycling team with our head office in Johannesburg, South Africa and main sponsors being South African, The Mzansi Tour is a very important event for us. MTN and Samsung, as well as the many supporters of the team including MTN Club100,  rarely get the opportunity to see the team racing in SA so this will be a special event for the team. This team is proudly South African and we race all over the world to try and make a difference to many people through Qhubeka and the #BicyclesChangeLives initiative.

In every race we participate in we attempt to put the best riders forward to meet the demands of the race. We have a really balanced team of youth and experience coming to the Mzansi Tour and our intention is to race hard and try and win.

We know we may be looked at as the favourites for the Mzansi Tour but no race is easy and often when you are the favourites it is even harder because other teams can race against a favourites team. Nevertheless, we are looking forward to the event and will take each day at a time. South African cycling is at a high level, last year in the Tour of Rwanda we were beaten by Dylan Girdlestone who is riding for Team Bonitas this year so it will be a tough event.

If i look at the stages, each stage is tough even the team time trial as you would not want to lose any seconds to good climbers. The final criterium will be important for us and then the Queens stage on stage 2 finishing in Golden Gate is a short but steep pull on a narrow road so that will split the field somewhat. It is a great route and well planned so will make for exciting racing every day.”

Profiles Overview

Prologue Team Time Trial – Emmarentia Dam > Emmarentia Dam (5km)
A flat and fast circuit, the main challenge coming in the skill of keeping the team together from start to finish through the 7 corners

Stage 1 – Golden Gate > Clarens (140km)
An undulating course that will suit a puncheur, particularly with the short steep climb that comes to the finish

Stage 2 – Clarens > Golden Gate National Park (159km)
The races queen stage that ends with a mountain top finish in the Golden Gate National Park, not the toughest finishing climb around but enough to decide the overall classification.

Stage 3 – Bethlehem > Vanderbijlpark (201km)
A long but flat and fast stage. Definitely one for the sprinters, unless the wind picks up on the long straight roads.

Stage 4 – Blue Hills Estate Circuit (79,5km)
15 laps of 5.3km circuit, numerous corners will make a lot of accelerations quite taxing. A race for the strong sprinter.

PMB World Cup fever spreads beyond South African borders

Two riders from Lesotho’s sole UCI MTB Trade Team will bolster the Southern African challenge at next weekend’s UCI MTB World Cup Pietermaritzburg, presented by Shimano, which takes place at the Cascades MTB Park from 11-13 April, as Phetetso Monese and Teboho Khantsi look to make their mark at the global showcase.

With a number of the Kargo Pro MTB Team’s riders already set to take to the international stage in a few days’ time, ACE-The Sufferfest Lesotho MTB Team powered by Unitrans – Africa’s only other UCI accredited outfit – has confirmed they too will contest the World Cup season opener and Khantsi and Monese will be hoping to add their own, unique stories to the list of the continent’s home-soil successes.

Ranked 125th and 163rd respectively, Monese and Khantsi may go unnoticed by many in the hype of journalists, spectators and the sport's global superstars, however, they have their sights set on their own long-term goal.

“For us it’s all about releasing the potential and presenting these riders with a chance to dream!” described Mark West, team manager of the ACE-The Sufferfest Lesotho MTB Team. “We are already witnessing great progress in performance, the winning will come at a later stage!

Monese and Khantsi, the team’s two elite men’s cross country competitors, had a good opportunity to come to terms with various elements of the World Cup course when they recently took part in the opening leg of the South African MTB Cup Series at Cascades.

“The course was good but very technical. It doesn’t really suit my style of riding because of the tight twists and turns,” Monese, Lesotho’s National Road Champion, described afterwards.

“We enjoyed competing in the SA Cup Series event though and are really looking forward to the World Cup!” he added.

The opportunity is one Khantsi is also relishing and hopes he can fly his team’s, nation’s and continent’s flags high at the event.

“I had a very good off season as I was training at the World Cycling Centre Africa facility in Potchestroom,” said Khantsi.

“I’m fit and am just hoping to do my best at the World Cup, avoid being lapped and try help raise the profile of African cycling!” he added.

Neither competitors have competed in a World Cup event previously and are under no illusion as to the size of the task they are faced with.

“The UCI MTB World Cup in Pietermaritzburg, followed by the UCI World Junior Series that will be hosted on our home soil from 18-20 April, will be the team’s initiation into the world of international MTB.

“African boys know that any initiation ceremony is a painful but is develops important experience in the journey to manhood!” said West.

While not asking for any special treatment nor expecting an easy ticket to the front, West did however urge the home crowd to get behind their fellow Africans and help support the ACE-The Sufferfest Lesotho MTB duo next weekend.

“If you are in Pietermaritzburg next weekend then look out for the team with the bleeding eyes logo and portrait of a dignified African chief on the jersey,” said West.

“And give them a big cheer as well!”

The UCI MTB World Cup, presented by Shimano, takes place at the Cascades MTB Park in Pietermaritzburg from 11-13 April 2014. More information can be found at www.mtbworldcupsa.co.za 

WORLD’S TOP RANKED TRIATHLETES TO RACE INAUGURAL DISCOVERY WORLD TRIATHLON CAPE TOWN

The International Triathlon Union (ITU) in November announced an addition to the 2014 World Triathlon Series calendar. For the first time ever, a World Triathlon Series event will be held on the continent of Africa with a race slated to be held at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town, South Africa on April 26-27, 2014.

The World Triathlon Cape Town race will serve as the second stop on the eight-city tour, which kicks off in Auckland on April 5-6. Cape Town is one of only two cities to debut on the WTS calendar in 2014, with Chicago also hosting an event for the first time.

The world’s top triathletes have confirmed their participation in the Cape Town leg of the series. With eight of the top ten Elite men on the start list, spectators can expect a tight, action packed race. Local hero Richard Murray (ranked 5^th) will take on Mario Mola (ESP), who narrowly beat him by 18 seconds in the World Cup season opener in Mooloolaba last month as well as fellow Spaniard Javier Gomez, number one on the WTS rankings. With 15 and 7 World Series wins under their respective belts, Brownlee brothers Alistair and Jonathan are the most successful Elite athletes in the history of the series and will be looking to retain their position.

The Elite ladies race will certainly rival the men’s in terms of action. With to top three ladies on the WTS rankings, Jodie Stimpson (GBR), Non Stanford (GBR) and Anne Haug (GER) confirmed, the competition will be no less intense than the Elite men’s race. Olympic silver medallist Lisa Norden (SWE) will also be making her ITU World Series comeback in Cape Town after the 2012 Olympics. Along with Helen Jenkins (GBR), she’ll be looking to regain her former ITU World Triathlon Series glory.

Says Richard Murray: "To compete in front of my home crowd in an ITU World Series event is already special. To know that I am going to be racing against the best athletes in the world is going to make for an unforgettable experience and epic race."

"This event will give South Africans the opportunity to watch or take part in a pro-am event, which caters to both Elite and mass participation. It’s incredibly important in terms of growing the sport locally. Having Discovery as title sponsor and Virgin Active as a partner, both large companies with a focus on promoting healthy living, will also go a long way to raise the profile of triathlon amongst ordinary weekend warriors and the public.”

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to sponsor the ITU World Triathlon Series Cape Town event, which is the first event of its kind to be held in South Africa, and on the African continent,” says Gidon Novick, Discovery Vitality CEO.

“The triathlon is viewed as the ultimate healthy lifestyle sport, as it promotes a greater consciousness of healthy living and eating. Furthermore, the triathlon is the fastest growing Olympic sport which attracts new participants every year, and it is also a sport gaining traction in South Africa. The average active South African is able to easily run 5km, swim 500m and cycle 20km, and I believe this event will gain a strong following in South Africa.”

“Discovery is committed to helping people to understand their health risks, and to lead healthier, active lifestyles that has a positive impact on their health, wellbeing and overall quality of life,” says Novick. “Events such as the Discovery World Triathlon Cape Town event provide a fantastic platform for us to spread this message and educate more people about the importance of taking responsibility for their own health and wellbeing.”

“Health and wellness is a very important issue worldwide, especially in light of the rising burden of no communicable diseases the world is experiencing,” Novick adds. “Vitality encourages people to know their health, improve their health and enjoy the rewards as leading a healthier lifestyle and making healthier choices is important in the fight against no communicable diseases such as obesity, diabetes, stroke, cardiovascular disease and certain cancers.”

Age groupers will have the option to choose between a standard Olympic distance courses or hone their speed skills on a sprint course. Standard and sprint distance team relays are also on the schedule, offering a race for all abilities. In addition to the competitions, athletes will be treated to a weekend full of festivities; including sundown concerts, a race exhibition, kids & family races.  Register online today at capetown.triathlon.org.