Burry Stander and Yolande Speedy lived up to their pre-race favourite status when they blazed their way to comfortable victories in the men and women’s Pro-Elite races respectively at the second round of the 2008 Mazda MTN SA Mountain Bike Cup in Pretoria at the weekend.

Stander (Mr Price GT) was simply in a different class on the fast, technical circuit at the Fountains Nature Reserve. The South African and African champion clocked a fast 1hr45min47sec for the six-lap race; just less than five minutes clear of his nearest rival, Namiban Marc Bassingthwaighte (Garmin Trek).

With Olympic Games hype beginning to build, Burry Stander and Yolande Speedy will be aiming to keep their names on top of the Beijing 2008 short-list when they tackle Round 2 of the Mazda MTN Mountain Bike Cup in Pretoria on Saturday.

South Africa has been awarded two places – one male and one female – for mountain biking at the Beijing Games and although they’re currently the leading contenders for final selection, Stander (Mr Price GT) and Speedy (IMC Racing) will need to maintain their high level of performance to retain top-of-mind status among the selectors.

Hi Everyone!

The Jonkershoek National XC (cross-country) race was to be my season opening contest…and what a way to start the season!
This mountain biking (Olympic) discipline is one of the most intense forms of the sport and to add to this, we were in for quite a treat….
Several European professional mountain bikers who were in the Cape Town area for training decided to enter the event as part of their training schedule.

Hi Everyone!

If I thought the National XC (Cross Country) race last weekend was hard, I was in for a big surprise at this year’s Barberton race – but for all the wrong reasons!

Barberton is normally the season opener and the first of the Drifter series races. As such it is always an indication of who did the hard work and training during the “off” season.