With the first individual time trial behind us and a dominant showing by the favorite Chris Froome, I think its safe to say he is going to fight for the yellow all the way to Paris. Finishing 2nd by only 12 seconds to Tony Martin (World Time Trial Champion) and putting at least 2min extra into the time gap to his closest rivals has sent out a clear message, Chris Froome is on form.
Today's stage 12 is a flat one, and once again the sprinter's teams will most likely be at the head of affairs controlling the race to set it up for their sprinters. Marcel Kittel has taken 2 stage victories in the tour thus far, while Cavendish, Greipel, and Sagan each only have one stage. One thing is certain, they all want more stages. Hopefully today we will see a good clean and super fast race to the line so that the fastest guy wins!!
Favorite for today - Cavendish
Outside favorites - Kittel, Greipel, Sagan
Here's a link to today's stage - http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stage-12
Henry Uys @met_uys
Wednesday 10 July 2013
Monday 8 July 2013
Tour de France comments/predicitons - Stage 10
Wow, what an exciting and unpredictable tour it has been up until now. Some of the favorites are way down on General Classification (GC), others have shifted their focus from GC to King of the Mountains.
All I can say is: Bring on the next 2 weeks! Today's stage is for the sprinters, for the GC riders its like an "active rest day" to get the legs firing. With so few days that have been available for the sprinters, you can be sure that the sprinter's teams are going to take control of the stage and try to set it up for the fast men.
If the peloton is still tired from the efforts of Stage 8 and Stage 9, then we could see a scenario where a select group of riders go on the attack and the peloton let them go without any effort to chase. The peloton might just cruise through the stage. Chances are slim that this would happen though, but it has happened before.
Okay so my favorite for today's stage is - Mark Cavendish
Outside favorites - Matt Goss, Andre Greipel, Roberto Ferarri
Here's the link to today's profile - http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stage-10
Henry Uys @met_uys
All I can say is: Bring on the next 2 weeks! Today's stage is for the sprinters, for the GC riders its like an "active rest day" to get the legs firing. With so few days that have been available for the sprinters, you can be sure that the sprinter's teams are going to take control of the stage and try to set it up for the fast men.
If the peloton is still tired from the efforts of Stage 8 and Stage 9, then we could see a scenario where a select group of riders go on the attack and the peloton let them go without any effort to chase. The peloton might just cruise through the stage. Chances are slim that this would happen though, but it has happened before.
Okay so my favorite for today's stage is - Mark Cavendish
Outside favorites - Matt Goss, Andre Greipel, Roberto Ferarri
Here's the link to today's profile - http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stage-10
Henry Uys @met_uys
Saturday 6 July 2013
Tour de France comments/predictions - Stage 8
Let me start by saying Cannondale were on a mission yesterday! Deliver Peter Sagan to the finish with as little sprinters around to contest the sprint - I'd say mission accomplished! What a show of commitment from Peter Sagan's team yesterday. He'd come close a couple of times, and it seems like the team took it upon themselves to do as much damage as they could over the climbs -get the field down to a manageable size with little or no sprinters in the mix and let Sagan Fly!
Today the race for the General Classification (GC) truly starts, the mountains have arrived and its time for the GC contenders to step up and show themselves. Although not a very difficult stage in terms of mountains to be climbed, it will set the tone for what is to come over the remaining 2 weeks of the Tour.
Today's stage reveals a different breed of cyclist, one that loves a road tilting upwards to the peaks of the Pyrenees and the Alps. these guys are built slim and as lightweight as possible to help them fly up the mountain side in pursuit of Glory.
Once again there's at least two dozen names that come to mind, but because this a prediction blog I have to try pick the few I think will come out on top.
So I think the winner for today's stage could be - Chris Froome
Outside favorites - Alberto Contador, Nairo Quintana, Alejandro Valverde
Let's see what surprises the mountains have in store for the Tour.
Profile of today's stage 8 - http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stage-8
Henry Uys @met_uys
Today the race for the General Classification (GC) truly starts, the mountains have arrived and its time for the GC contenders to step up and show themselves. Although not a very difficult stage in terms of mountains to be climbed, it will set the tone for what is to come over the remaining 2 weeks of the Tour.
Today's stage reveals a different breed of cyclist, one that loves a road tilting upwards to the peaks of the Pyrenees and the Alps. these guys are built slim and as lightweight as possible to help them fly up the mountain side in pursuit of Glory.
Once again there's at least two dozen names that come to mind, but because this a prediction blog I have to try pick the few I think will come out on top.
So I think the winner for today's stage could be - Chris Froome
Outside favorites - Alberto Contador, Nairo Quintana, Alejandro Valverde
Let's see what surprises the mountains have in store for the Tour.
Profile of today's stage 8 - http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stage-8
Henry Uys @met_uys
Thursday 4 July 2013
Tour de France comments/predicitons - Stage 7
"You Beauty!" is all I can say to fellow South African Daryl Impey, making history yesterday as the first African rider to wear the yellow jersey. South Africa and Africa, in general, is making quite a noise in the international cycling world this year: Team MTN Qhubeka becoming the first African Pro continental team, MTN Qhubeka winning the Milan San Remo and other races this year and now a South African in the Yellow Jersey at the Tour de France. The Chinese calender should add 'the year of the African' to their calender.
Daryl is surely capable of holding onto the yellow jersey, and I'm sure the team will want to hold onto that jersey for as long as possible - until the 8th stage which will have the first mountain summit finish.
Today's stage once again has a bit of everything. If a breakaway has the right mix of riders, riders that are way behind on General Classification (GC), then it's possible that the peloton will let go. However, I'm pretty sure Cavendish wants to try and take this stage as well. So, I expect it to come to a bunch sprint for the fast guns.
My prediction for today is - Cavendish (It seems like I only tip him to win in a sprint, the reason for this is, he is FAST!!!)
Outside favorites - Andre Greipel, Matt Goss, Peter Sagan
Here's a profile of today's stage - http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stage-7
Henry Uys@met_uys
Daryl is surely capable of holding onto the yellow jersey, and I'm sure the team will want to hold onto that jersey for as long as possible - until the 8th stage which will have the first mountain summit finish.
Today's stage once again has a bit of everything. If a breakaway has the right mix of riders, riders that are way behind on General Classification (GC), then it's possible that the peloton will let go. However, I'm pretty sure Cavendish wants to try and take this stage as well. So, I expect it to come to a bunch sprint for the fast guns.
My prediction for today is - Cavendish (It seems like I only tip him to win in a sprint, the reason for this is, he is FAST!!!)
Outside favorites - Andre Greipel, Matt Goss, Peter Sagan
Here's a profile of today's stage - http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stage-7
Henry Uys
Tour de France comments/predictions - Stage - 6
I missed my comments and predictions
for yesterdays stage 5 and man am I glad I didn't make any
predictions. Mark Cavendish opens his stage win account on stage 5
which I honestly thought would go to a punchy rider that could get
away on the last few climbs before the finish.
Well that's the tour for you,
unpredictable and exciting, always surprising and colourful.
Today's stage is flat and fast and
surely another day for Cavendish to win. All his team needs to do is
to keep him out of trouble and deliver him with 200m to go. If
Daryl Impey can deliver Matt Goss like he delivered Simon Gerrans on
stage 3, then Orica-GreenEdge's have a shot at getting their 3rd win
for the tour so far.
Predictions for today: Cavendish to
win.
Map and profile of today's stage - http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stage-6
Henry ICEman Uys @met_uys
Tuesday 2 July 2013
Tour de France comments/predictions - Stage 4
Its the team time trial today at the tour and its going to be FAST, nine riders combining to maximize their speed and put their team leaders in a position to win the tour.
This is an insanely difficult stage, not because of the profile or the distance, but because in a time trial you go at 110% effort from start to finish. The effort for the stage today is maximum, this is where you get an edge over your rivals, this shows where a team is in terms of unity. If a team does well in this stage it means they are united in their effort and goals for the tour.
Luckily there's only 22 possible winners from today's stage so I might get my prediction right. Team SKY would have been my outright favorite for today, but with the crash injuring a couple of them, it's highly unlikely they'll win today. I have no doubt they will be in the top 5 though... I hope.
So my Winning team for today - BMC
Outside favorites - SKY, Quickstep, Garmin Sharp.
Map and profile of today's stage - http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stage-4
Henry ICEman Uys @met_uys
This is an insanely difficult stage, not because of the profile or the distance, but because in a time trial you go at 110% effort from start to finish. The effort for the stage today is maximum, this is where you get an edge over your rivals, this shows where a team is in terms of unity. If a team does well in this stage it means they are united in their effort and goals for the tour.
Luckily there's only 22 possible winners from today's stage so I might get my prediction right. Team SKY would have been my outright favorite for today, but with the crash injuring a couple of them, it's highly unlikely they'll win today. I have no doubt they will be in the top 5 though... I hope.
So my Winning team for today - BMC
Outside favorites - SKY, Quickstep, Garmin Sharp.
Map and profile of today's stage - http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stage-4
Henry ICEman Uys @met_uys
Monday 1 July 2013
Tour de France comments/predictions - Stage 3
Well it seems the last 1km climb in yesterdays stage saw some action, surprisingly no one staying away over the top, but the small group of riders caught the peloton napping and Jan Bakelants doing what all riders love to do and that's get one up on the chasing peloton.
The General Classification (GC) contenders all showed they have some sort of form. Though its too early to tell how good the form is, 2 days in and the third day is even hillier than day 2. Its not a brutal stage in term of serious climbing, but all these little climbs will weaken the contenders that are not on form, come the High Mountain days we are most likely to see one or two of the contenders crack.
So with some time gaps on the GC, there's opportunity for a break to go clear and stay clear. There will be opportunists looking to slip up the road and be left alone to fight it out, only problem is there's most likely some GC riders who fancy a chance at a stage and possibly taking the yellow jersey for a couple of days. The problem with this is, if one of the GC riders want the stage, the team has to take the responsibility of chasing down the break away, this could work or it could weaken the team and isolate the GC rider later on in the tour. I guess the big question is how confident the GC contender is in achieving a good overall position at the end of the tour. If he isn't that confident he'll most likely put the team on the front to try for, at least, a stage win. The other side of the coin is the team SKY factor, by far the most calculated team out there, and if they feel they can win the stage without using too much effort, they will. My bet is SKY won't chase today, they have 2 riders which are injured and nursing the wounds of stage 1, the team will want to get them back to strength so they have the fire power in the High Mountains to put Chris Froome in a perfect position at winning the tour.
This is such an open stage for anything to happen, like almost every other hilly or High Mountain stage to come. Basically, if the GC contenders want to race, the winner will be decided between them. If they don't want to spend too much energy, then the winner will most likely be from a break away.
My favorites for today - Sylvain Chavanel, Thomas Voeckler, Aljandro Valvercde, Chris Froome
Outside favorites - Pierre Rolland, Dan Martin, Nairo Quintana, Thibaut Pinot, Joaquim Rodriguez.
Last day on the island of Corsica and then it's off to the mainland for the team time trial.
Map and profile of today's stage - http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stage-3
Henry ICEman Uys @met_uys
The General Classification (GC) contenders all showed they have some sort of form. Though its too early to tell how good the form is, 2 days in and the third day is even hillier than day 2. Its not a brutal stage in term of serious climbing, but all these little climbs will weaken the contenders that are not on form, come the High Mountain days we are most likely to see one or two of the contenders crack.
So with some time gaps on the GC, there's opportunity for a break to go clear and stay clear. There will be opportunists looking to slip up the road and be left alone to fight it out, only problem is there's most likely some GC riders who fancy a chance at a stage and possibly taking the yellow jersey for a couple of days. The problem with this is, if one of the GC riders want the stage, the team has to take the responsibility of chasing down the break away, this could work or it could weaken the team and isolate the GC rider later on in the tour. I guess the big question is how confident the GC contender is in achieving a good overall position at the end of the tour. If he isn't that confident he'll most likely put the team on the front to try for, at least, a stage win. The other side of the coin is the team SKY factor, by far the most calculated team out there, and if they feel they can win the stage without using too much effort, they will. My bet is SKY won't chase today, they have 2 riders which are injured and nursing the wounds of stage 1, the team will want to get them back to strength so they have the fire power in the High Mountains to put Chris Froome in a perfect position at winning the tour.
This is such an open stage for anything to happen, like almost every other hilly or High Mountain stage to come. Basically, if the GC contenders want to race, the winner will be decided between them. If they don't want to spend too much energy, then the winner will most likely be from a break away.
My favorites for today - Sylvain Chavanel, Thomas Voeckler, Aljandro Valvercde, Chris Froome
Outside favorites - Pierre Rolland, Dan Martin, Nairo Quintana, Thibaut Pinot, Joaquim Rodriguez.
Last day on the island of Corsica and then it's off to the mainland for the team time trial.
Map and profile of today's stage - http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stage-3
Henry ICEman Uys @met_uys
Sunday 30 June 2013
Tour de France comments/predictions - Stage 2
What an exciting finish for yesterdays stage 1, super intense and FAST.
As always this race lives up to the hype, its unlike any other race in the world.
With a 213km opening stage, the sprinters were definitely licking their lips at the opportunity of being the first to wear the leaders jersey for the 100th Tour de France. As is the case there were crashes and unfortunately all the top favorites got caught up in the mass pile up with less than 5km to go.
This meant the race for the line was a free for all and with Argos Shimano fielding a team full of sprinters it seemed almost wrong for the team not to take it, their tactic of sending as many fast men as possible paid off on day one.
Todays stage is built for the guys that specialize in short sharp climbs, although there's some serious mountains in the middle of the stage, it's the last 13km thats gonna determine the winner. With a short 1km hill averaging 8.9% gradient, it's perfect for a punchy explosive rider/s to gap the peleton and race to line for the stage. There are a few names that come to mind when I refer to punchy explosive riders - Philip Gilbert, Damiano Cunego, Alejandro Valverde, Dan Martin and at least half a dozen others in with a realistic chance. Let's not forget Peter Sagan who just seems to be able to do everything, this guy can sprint, he can get over the short steep punchy climbs, has time trail (TT) ability so he can go alone if he finds himself in the front with a gap. He's my dark horse for today, after his crash yesterday I feel he is a wounded animal, you know what they say about a wounded animal - its dangerous. The general classification (GC) contenders are also in with a stage win today and few seconds here could boost morale looking forward to the team time trial on stage 4.
I think todays stage is going to be as exciting as yesterday and if the climb is hard enough, the mix of guys going to the line will not consist of sprinters.
My favorite for the win today is - Peter Sagan
Outside favorite - Philip Gilbert, Sylvain Chavanel, Alejandro Valverde.
Another day on Le Grande Tour.
Stage profile and map of todays stage - http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stage-2
Henry ICEman Uys@met_uys
As always this race lives up to the hype, its unlike any other race in the world.
With a 213km opening stage, the sprinters were definitely licking their lips at the opportunity of being the first to wear the leaders jersey for the 100th Tour de France. As is the case there were crashes and unfortunately all the top favorites got caught up in the mass pile up with less than 5km to go.
This meant the race for the line was a free for all and with Argos Shimano fielding a team full of sprinters it seemed almost wrong for the team not to take it, their tactic of sending as many fast men as possible paid off on day one.
Todays stage is built for the guys that specialize in short sharp climbs, although there's some serious mountains in the middle of the stage, it's the last 13km thats gonna determine the winner. With a short 1km hill averaging 8.9% gradient, it's perfect for a punchy explosive rider/s to gap the peleton and race to line for the stage. There are a few names that come to mind when I refer to punchy explosive riders - Philip Gilbert, Damiano Cunego, Alejandro Valverde, Dan Martin and at least half a dozen others in with a realistic chance. Let's not forget Peter Sagan who just seems to be able to do everything, this guy can sprint, he can get over the short steep punchy climbs, has time trail (TT) ability so he can go alone if he finds himself in the front with a gap. He's my dark horse for today, after his crash yesterday I feel he is a wounded animal, you know what they say about a wounded animal - its dangerous. The general classification (GC) contenders are also in with a stage win today and few seconds here could boost morale looking forward to the team time trial on stage 4.
I think todays stage is going to be as exciting as yesterday and if the climb is hard enough, the mix of guys going to the line will not consist of sprinters.
My favorite for the win today is - Peter Sagan
Outside favorite - Philip Gilbert, Sylvain Chavanel, Alejandro Valverde.
Another day on Le Grande Tour.
Stage profile and map of todays stage - http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stage-2
Henry ICEman Uys
Saturday 29 June 2013
Tour de France comments/predictions - Stage 1
Since its the 100th edition of the Tour de France I figured I'd give my comments and stage predictions for each stage of the tour before and after each stage.
So stage 1 has arrived and unlike the usual tour prologue, its a pan flat 213km race to the line, my opinion is the fastest guy is gonna win today. Who's the fastest??? Mark Cavendish - The Manx Missile - is my favorite for the stage today. Andre Greipel, Matt Goss, Nacer Bouhanni and at least half a dozen other sprinters will be looking to don the coveted Malloit Jaune (leaders jersey) and take the stage ahead of Cavendish.
As always the opening few stages of the tour are CRAZY. The riders are super excited and motivated, but they are also nervous and twitchy, this is after all the Biggest stage race on the planet and one stage win here will catapult a riders' career and value to the big league. With this kind of emotion going into the first few days it's super fast, dangerously tight and with so many looking for glory, crashes are almost guaranteed. If Mark's teammates can keep him out of trouble and deliver him with 200m to go... he's sure to take this stage.
Todays opening stage should be a CRACKER!!
My tips for the win - Mark Cavendish
Riders in with a shot - Andre Greipel, Matt Goss, John Degenkolb
If you can't watch the tour live, follow the coverage on - http://www.cyclingnews.com
For a look at todays stage and profile - http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stage-1
Let the Tour begin!!!!!
Henry ICEman Uys@met_uys
So stage 1 has arrived and unlike the usual tour prologue, its a pan flat 213km race to the line, my opinion is the fastest guy is gonna win today. Who's the fastest??? Mark Cavendish - The Manx Missile - is my favorite for the stage today. Andre Greipel, Matt Goss, Nacer Bouhanni and at least half a dozen other sprinters will be looking to don the coveted Malloit Jaune (leaders jersey) and take the stage ahead of Cavendish.
As always the opening few stages of the tour are CRAZY. The riders are super excited and motivated, but they are also nervous and twitchy, this is after all the Biggest stage race on the planet and one stage win here will catapult a riders' career and value to the big league. With this kind of emotion going into the first few days it's super fast, dangerously tight and with so many looking for glory, crashes are almost guaranteed. If Mark's teammates can keep him out of trouble and deliver him with 200m to go... he's sure to take this stage.
Todays opening stage should be a CRACKER!!
My tips for the win - Mark Cavendish
Riders in with a shot - Andre Greipel, Matt Goss, John Degenkolb
If you can't watch the tour live, follow the coverage on - http://www.cyclingnews.com
For a look at todays stage and profile - http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stage-1
Let the Tour begin!!!!!
Henry ICEman Uys
Monday 17 June 2013
Rooiberg - MTB Paradise - real mountain biking
MTN
Rooiberg Ultra Marathon
This
weekend saw the sixth leg of the National series take place at a new
venue, and what an awesome venue Rooiberg turned out to be. Once
again the Ultra marathon was designed with all aspects in mind,
rocks, thick sand, lung busting climbs, adrenaline pumping descents
and pure nature at its best, brutal where only the strong survive.
This was
my second Ultra marathon race and I again I was excited to see how I
would go, the aim today was to go out and stay in the front as long
as possible and then if I got dropped, I would stay on the hammer and
'go till I blow' .
The race
started with a quick tempo and lots of thick energy sapping sand in
the first 15km thinned out the racing pack relatively quick, a group
of about 12-15 riders reached the base of the KOM climb and
immediately the pace went high and the pressure was on. I lost
contact with the front group of 5 just before the top and had to put
in some fast descending and quick smooth riding through the single
track that followed so I could get back in touch, as I got back two
other riders had managed to rejoin and we were 8 riders. The race was
really on now and the pace was high, Gawie Combrinck was on the gas
and making the race hard to set it up for his team and series leader
Nico Bell.
The
group of us went into a stretch of single track for a few a little
while before we turned onto a jeep track and over the next 10km there
would be some serious climbing to be done, I was in the red and lost
touch after digging deep to try hang on. At this point I just had to
keep pushing, I was in the top 10 and I didn't want to get caught or
lose my top 10 position. The terrain was pure mountain biking
paradise, it was testing and energy sapping at every pedal stroke, if
it wasn't the loose little stones keeping your reflexes in check
while cornering (drifting), it was the steep loose rocky climbs that
took maximum concentration and effort, or the fast open plateaus that
burnt off more energy, or the descents that required all your
concentration reflexes and balls to get down.
I was
still holding onto my 8th place and with 30km to go in the
105km Ultra marathon, the engines (legs) were starting run out of
fuel and fatigue was starting to take effect. On one of the last big
descents I miscalculated a steep section and when a slower rider
(70km entrant) in front of me stopped, I tried to get around him and
down the drop off … AT THE SAME TIME, I ended up going over the
bars and into a tree. That fall hurt and I was now a wounded buck,
but the fight in me was not done yet, I had to just keep going, “
You lying in 8th and you cant give up now, just keep the
pedals turning”, I kept telling myself even though my legs were
screaming and I was I pain from the crash.
I got to
the 10km to go board and I over the edge already, the last 10km was
gonna be a fight in my mind with my body that didn't want to carry
on. Fighting myself 1Km at a time, but it was slow and I was looking
back hoping no one was coming. 1Km to go, I was almost at the finish.
One last look back and my fear was realised, there was another rider
closing FAST, I jumped out the saddle and tried to hold him off to
the finish but there was nothing left. I had pushed really hard early
on and I had paid the price. In the end I had to settle for 9th
overall.
I had
made the race hard for myself to see how far I could push, 9th
in only my second ultra marathon this year. Not bad, training and
planning is going well, if I keep this up a podium is on the horizon.
But first some rest and recovery before the prep for the second half
of the season starts.
Thank
you to @ghostbikessa for an awesome racing machine and racing kit,
its an honour to have your support and belief in me. To
@clubbrytonusn, @ballasticbike and @USNSA, your support is much
appreciated. Lastly to my father (Andre) and my brother (Neil) thank
you for taking time to come and support me. And ,my wife to be Lanie,
thank you for allowing me to pursue what I love doing, you are
blessing and an amazing woman!
From me @met_uys aka Henry Iceman Uys, keep the rubber side down and your eyes on the prize.
Photos By Zoon Cronje : www.zcmc.co.za
Sunday 9 June 2013
Bryton Big5 MTB series #1
The
Bryton Big 5 mtb series #1
This
weekend saw the first race of the Bryton Big 5 series take place at
the 4 Star Askari Game Lodge close to Magaliesburg. What a cool venue
for a race, in a lodge where there is Rhino and Buffalo as well as a
Lion encampment, that we rode through … The Lions are in quarantine
while a dam is being built in the encampment Cant say I wasn't
slightly nervous about the idea of riding where Rhino and Buffalo
roam free but the organisers had planned the mtb route in such a way
that we wouldn't be riding where the Rhinos and buffalo were. But
still got to see some other game such Bucks, Zebras and Warthog.
So
onto the race and with the form of late I was confident in a good
result again, all I needed to do was stay close to the front and keep
out of trouble. We rolled out of the start with a 5km neutral zone
section and my legs were feeling really good, I mean really good,
like there's no chain its so easy to pedal. The neutral vehicle
pulled over after 5km and the race was on, I was in 2nd
position and happy to let the guy in front of me set the pace. MY
idea was to size up the guys around me and take my opportunities when
they came.
As
luck would have it I had 2 Go Pro cameras attached to the bike today
to try get some good race footage, unfortunately about 15 Min into
the race the front mounted camera broke off, so I slam on brakes and
run back to try and find the camera. Spot it lying in the grass, put
in my pocket while running back to my bike and then set off in
pursuit of the 3 riders in the front of the race.
There
was a nice climb coming up and I that's where I was planning on
testing the front guys, now I was hoping to catch up to the front
group of 3 before the top of the climb. Quickly settled into a nice
quick steady tempo and as we hit the base of the climb I managed to
catch and pass 2 of the 3 riders that were out in front, one rider
left to catch and he had distanced himself while I was in pursuit of
them. The climb was getting real now as the gradients touched 15% and
I was closing on the lone leader, We crested the top together and I
immediately went around him so I could set the pace and try recover
from the effort. I had gone quite hard to get back to the front and
took it easy on the descent that followed to catch my breath.
As
soon as we hit the next little climb I hammered on the pedals, I
wanted to get some distance between myself as soon as I could. I
looked back and saw I had a gap so it was head down and full gas, but
the legs were still a bit jelly after the effort to catch up, I could
see Dale about 100m behind me so I kept a steady pace so that when
the next climb came I could put in a proper effort and get some real
distance on him. The plan worked and by the time I got to the halfway
mark (25km) , Dale was nowhere to be seen, so I just settled into a
high tempo and kept hammering on the pedals.
Legs
were feeling awesome and once again the bike was running smooth and
flawless, a comfortable win which makes it 3 wins in 3 starts. The
last 4 weeks have been really good and form has come at the right
time, hopefully I can hold onto this form for another week and go for
a good result at my second ultra marathon of the year at MTN
Rooiberg.
Just
wanna extend a big thank you to my sponsors @Ballisticbike,
@ghostbikessa, @usnsa. It makes racing a bit easier to have the
backing of awesome sponsors. And lastly I'd like to thank my wife to
be for allowing me to race next weekend with only a week to the
wedding.
The
winter seems to have arrived here so its gonna be time to bring out
the winter kit so I can stay on track.
Check
out some race data on the link attached.
Friday 7 June 2013
Bryton Big 5 series race #1 this weekend
So there's a new MTB series starting this weekend, the Bryton Big 5 MTB series. As it is an event sponsored by one of my sponsors I'd like to give it a good go. May was a good month with 2 wins and one of them being the defence of my Magalies Monster title.
Here's a bit of a route description : Seeing that the Bryton Elephant is the first in the Series, we'll ease the cyclists into BIG 5 territory, with a fly by the 1000 hectare Lion Camp, after which they'll go through a tunnel to the mountain side, where the mountain goats will have their way. Coming down from the Mountain we'll start approaching Rhino and buffalo territory.... just befor cyclist enter the danger zone, they'll make their way trough the Kloof back to the Lodge for a surprise...
Check out the link to view route profiles etc. http://www.verticalhorison.co.za/MountainBiking/BrytonElephantMTB.aspx
Reckon its gonna be fun!!
Here's a bit of a route description : Seeing that the Bryton Elephant is the first in the Series, we'll ease the cyclists into BIG 5 territory, with a fly by the 1000 hectare Lion Camp, after which they'll go through a tunnel to the mountain side, where the mountain goats will have their way. Coming down from the Mountain we'll start approaching Rhino and buffalo territory.... just befor cyclist enter the danger zone, they'll make their way trough the Kloof back to the Lodge for a surprise...
Check out the link to view route profiles etc. http://www.verticalhorison.co.za/MountainBiking/BrytonElephantMTB.aspx
Reckon its gonna be fun!!
Sunday 2 June 2013
Tuesday 28 May 2013
Monday 27 May 2013
Taming the Magalies Monster
Taming the Magalies Monster
This past weekend saw the 10th edition of the Magalies Monster MTB race. Trust me the name for this race is an understatement, and what a race it was!
As the winner of the 2012 Magalies Monster I was quite calm the day before the event and even in the car on route to the race the next morning, however when I lined up at the start the nerves kicked in. I looked around and there was some good competition standing around me - my mind started running and doubting, but I quickly reassured myself that I'd trained for the last 6 months for this and if I was going to be beaten the other guys would have to tear me to pieces.
The race was 5km longer this year so it meant we'd suffer a bit longer. We had a neutral start of about 1km before the racing was on and it was ON as soon as we were let loose. The first 15km is undulating with single track, and a really cool section over a concrete bridge that runs along a mountainside. In this first 15km of the race the competitors had settled and a leading group of about 8 riders had formed, which I wasn't particularly comfortable with. However, with a few more climbs and the sting of the baby monster before the big Monster climb, the group was whittled down to just 4 riders (Myself, Andrew Grobler, Shaun Nick Bester, Nico Sterk).
I was feeling really good by the time we got to the bottom of the Monster and my confidence was growing as some of the riders were dropped that I thought would be challenging me for the title today. I decided to sit 2nd wheel up the Monster until we got halfway up before making a move. As we got to the concrete sections halfway up the climb I went around Shaun and pushed the tempo up high, the 3 behind were still there but I could hear their laboured breathing so I kept hammering away on the climb.
Approaching the top Nico Sterk came around me to lead us down a short descent before tackling the last part of the Monster to the King Of the Mountain (KOM). I stayed close to him on the descent so that when we started climbing again I wouldn't be put in a position where I had to chase him down, but as we started the final section of the climb he went really hard and got about 10 metres on me. I decided to just go as hard as I could and hopefully catch him before the top, with about 300m to the top Nico blew up and I managed to get back to him and set my sights on the KOM. With 100M to go, I kicked hard and went around to take the KOM, I looked back and he was about 10m behind. I decided it’s time to GO, so I jumped on the pedals and went as fast as I could down the other side. It was still another 45km to go by the time you reach the top of the Monster, but I was confident I could hold the chasers off.
In a position like this I was constantly reminding myself to keep hammering away on the pedals, I didn't want to be caught and if I was going to be caught I would make it as hard as possible for them to catch me. I managed to stretch my lead to where I could no longer see the chasers when the track opened up on some long straight sections and managed to take the win in the 2013 Magalies Monster and successfully defend the title.
What an awesome feeling to win this race again, with the training timed perfectly to peak for this event, and to have had such a smooth ride with no issues was truly a blessing.
Race data and Stats: http://app.strava.com/activities/56176409
Race results: http://www.spectrumsport.co.za/Portals/17/ResultDoc/Magalies_Monster_MTB_20130525.pdf
Thank you to @brytongps, @Ghostbikessa, @ballisticbike for your continued support and belief in me. Also a big thank you to the @USNSA and @clubbrytonusn members for their support, it keeps me motivated.
Till the next race, which might be Nationals this week.
Henry Uys
@met_uys
This past weekend saw the 10th edition of the Magalies Monster MTB race. Trust me the name for this race is an understatement, and what a race it was!
As the winner of the 2012 Magalies Monster I was quite calm the day before the event and even in the car on route to the race the next morning, however when I lined up at the start the nerves kicked in. I looked around and there was some good competition standing around me - my mind started running and doubting, but I quickly reassured myself that I'd trained for the last 6 months for this and if I was going to be beaten the other guys would have to tear me to pieces.
The race was 5km longer this year so it meant we'd suffer a bit longer. We had a neutral start of about 1km before the racing was on and it was ON as soon as we were let loose. The first 15km is undulating with single track, and a really cool section over a concrete bridge that runs along a mountainside. In this first 15km of the race the competitors had settled and a leading group of about 8 riders had formed, which I wasn't particularly comfortable with. However, with a few more climbs and the sting of the baby monster before the big Monster climb, the group was whittled down to just 4 riders (Myself, Andrew Grobler, Shaun Nick Bester, Nico Sterk).
I was feeling really good by the time we got to the bottom of the Monster and my confidence was growing as some of the riders were dropped that I thought would be challenging me for the title today. I decided to sit 2nd wheel up the Monster until we got halfway up before making a move. As we got to the concrete sections halfway up the climb I went around Shaun and pushed the tempo up high, the 3 behind were still there but I could hear their laboured breathing so I kept hammering away on the climb.
Approaching the top Nico Sterk came around me to lead us down a short descent before tackling the last part of the Monster to the King Of the Mountain (KOM). I stayed close to him on the descent so that when we started climbing again I wouldn't be put in a position where I had to chase him down, but as we started the final section of the climb he went really hard and got about 10 metres on me. I decided to just go as hard as I could and hopefully catch him before the top, with about 300m to the top Nico blew up and I managed to get back to him and set my sights on the KOM. With 100M to go, I kicked hard and went around to take the KOM, I looked back and he was about 10m behind. I decided it’s time to GO, so I jumped on the pedals and went as fast as I could down the other side. It was still another 45km to go by the time you reach the top of the Monster, but I was confident I could hold the chasers off.
In a position like this I was constantly reminding myself to keep hammering away on the pedals, I didn't want to be caught and if I was going to be caught I would make it as hard as possible for them to catch me. I managed to stretch my lead to where I could no longer see the chasers when the track opened up on some long straight sections and managed to take the win in the 2013 Magalies Monster and successfully defend the title.
What an awesome feeling to win this race again, with the training timed perfectly to peak for this event, and to have had such a smooth ride with no issues was truly a blessing.
Race data and Stats: http://app.strava.com/activities/56176409
Race results: http://www.spectrumsport.co.za/Portals/17/ResultDoc/Magalies_Monster_MTB_20130525.pdf
Thank you to @brytongps, @Ghostbikessa, @ballisticbike for your continued support and belief in me. Also a big thank you to the @USNSA and @clubbrytonusn members for their support, it keeps me motivated.
Till the next race, which might be Nationals this week.
Henry Uys
@met_uys
Tuesday 21 May 2013
Redstone MTB series #2
Two weeks have passed since my last race and this weekend was the Redstone race #2 in the series. Last time round, in the first race of the series, I ended up 2nd overall after a mechanical issue saw my hopes of a win fade.
Onto the second race of the series and with it being a week before the Magalies Monster, a race I won last year and have been training specifically to defend the title, I was confident that I'd have some good form.
The weather was a bit chilly and only in the single digits by the time we started, but the legs and lungs were quickly warmed up as the pace was on from the start. I made sure I was in the front and kept the pace quick to try and whittle the group down as much as possible. After about 5km of racing there were 4 (myself, Pierre Smith, Sheldon Dagley, Ian Pienaar) of us in the front and I was content with it at that moment. As we approached the first testing technical climb of the course, my one foot came out the pedal and I had to run up while Pierre Smith rode away gaining about 20 sec advantage on us over the top.
I was now lying 4th and following the other two closely so that I could get past and push the pace as soon as it opened up. The road opened up and I surged to the front to set my sights on clawing Pierre back on the next climb and as we turned onto it, there were riders coming down the hill and turning in on our line - someone had taken a wrong turn and now about 40-50 riders had found their way ahead of us. This was no good and we pushed hard and kept calling to get them to move out the way for us. By the time we got to the top of the climb we had managed to get back to Pierre. Once the road opened up I went round and drove the pace hard, my concern now was that we'd have to get past all these riders so we could have a clear race.
As we went over the top of the third climb it was only Pierre and I with the other 2 trailing by about 10sec, but that all changed when Pierre lost control going into a corner with loose rock and hitting the deck HARD, I slowed down to see if he was able to keep going and catch up. However, when Sheldon and Ian caught up to me a bit further down the trail, I decided that I need to push on.
Up the final climb of the first lap I managed to shake Ian and it was only Sheldon and I in the lead heading into the second lap. For the whole of the second lap I kept the pace high and on the second climb of the lap, I managed to get a gap on Sheldon and pushed hard for the finish. 1st place overall for the Redstone #2. Sheldon finished 2nd and Pierre 3rd .
The bike today was absolutely flawless and when you have a day like today, it just feels so good to be on the trail, it came together well and the legs were there. So bring on Magalies Monster. As far as training and prep are concerned I believe I've got good form, but I expect competition come Saturday 25 May.
Once again thank you to my sponsors: @ghostbikessa, @clubbrytonusn, @ballisticbike and @brytongps for your support.
Look forward to reporting on the Magalies Monster this coming weekend.
Some race data : http://www.brytonsport.com/mapTrackView/2?id=3129107
Til next week
Henry Uys @met_uys
Onto the second race of the series and with it being a week before the Magalies Monster, a race I won last year and have been training specifically to defend the title, I was confident that I'd have some good form.
The weather was a bit chilly and only in the single digits by the time we started, but the legs and lungs were quickly warmed up as the pace was on from the start. I made sure I was in the front and kept the pace quick to try and whittle the group down as much as possible. After about 5km of racing there were 4 (myself, Pierre Smith, Sheldon Dagley, Ian Pienaar) of us in the front and I was content with it at that moment. As we approached the first testing technical climb of the course, my one foot came out the pedal and I had to run up while Pierre Smith rode away gaining about 20 sec advantage on us over the top.
I was now lying 4th and following the other two closely so that I could get past and push the pace as soon as it opened up. The road opened up and I surged to the front to set my sights on clawing Pierre back on the next climb and as we turned onto it, there were riders coming down the hill and turning in on our line - someone had taken a wrong turn and now about 40-50 riders had found their way ahead of us. This was no good and we pushed hard and kept calling to get them to move out the way for us. By the time we got to the top of the climb we had managed to get back to Pierre. Once the road opened up I went round and drove the pace hard, my concern now was that we'd have to get past all these riders so we could have a clear race.
As we went over the top of the third climb it was only Pierre and I with the other 2 trailing by about 10sec, but that all changed when Pierre lost control going into a corner with loose rock and hitting the deck HARD, I slowed down to see if he was able to keep going and catch up. However, when Sheldon and Ian caught up to me a bit further down the trail, I decided that I need to push on.
Up the final climb of the first lap I managed to shake Ian and it was only Sheldon and I in the lead heading into the second lap. For the whole of the second lap I kept the pace high and on the second climb of the lap, I managed to get a gap on Sheldon and pushed hard for the finish. 1st place overall for the Redstone #2. Sheldon finished 2nd and Pierre 3rd .
The bike today was absolutely flawless and when you have a day like today, it just feels so good to be on the trail, it came together well and the legs were there. So bring on Magalies Monster. As far as training and prep are concerned I believe I've got good form, but I expect competition come Saturday 25 May.
Once again thank you to my sponsors: @ghostbikessa, @clubbrytonusn, @ballisticbike and @brytongps for your support.
Look forward to reporting on the Magalies Monster this coming weekend.
Some race data : http://www.brytonsport.com/mapTrackView/2?id=3129107
Til next week
Henry Uys @met_uys
Tuesday 7 May 2013
Monday 6 May 2013
This
past weekend saw the 4th leg of the UCI Marathon World Cup
take place in Clarens, Free State. What promised to be an exciting
event turned out to be exactly that, with the likes of international
pro's such as Stefan Sahm (current Marathon World Cup Leader) and
Steffen Thum.
Surprisingly
the pace wasn't as fast as I had anticipated it would be, probably
because most of the top contenders had the last 20km of racing in
mind which had a total altitude gain of over 700m. I positioned
myself in the front of the race and made sure I wasn't any further
back than 10th position to avoid any problems or hold ups.
As we approached the first tech zone Max Knox and Gawie Combrinck
made a move and got about 100m on the chasers which had been whittled
down to a select group of 20 riders. The chasing group managed to
pull Gawie and Max back within a few kilometres and then the pace was
pretty much relaxed with all the main contenders looking around at
each other, approaching the first big testing climb of the day.
As we
hit the base of the climb close to the 50km mark, the fireworks
started and the big guns started firing, I found myself in 8th
position on the climb, but lost a few positions due to small errors
up the technical ascent. From then on it was head down, trying
to limit the loss as well as keep ahead of the riders behind. By the
third tech zone I was lying 11th and feeling confident
that I could hold onto my position to the end.
The two
remaining climbs were absolute walls and I could see the rider just
ahead, so I set a steady pace, gaining. At the same time the rider
behind me, Ben Melt, also started to gain on me. By the time we got
to the top of the climbs the 3 of us were together which would make
for an interesting last 10km down to the finish. The descent was
fast and at some stages downright scary. On one of the last little
bumps Ben Melt put in an effort to ride clear, but I managed to latch
on just as we came into town. It would come down to a sprint between
the 2 of us for 10th and I figured I would get the best of
him. I sat behind him and approaching the last corner I kicked to get
ahead, but my gears weren't selecting and with only 50m to go Ben had
the kick to get ahead and finish in 10th .
All in
all it was an awesome 100% mountain bike race, one which tested you
physically and mentally at every pedal stroke. For my first dig at
mixing with the pro's in an ultra marathon distance since October
2012 I'm well satisfied and quietly confident that it's going to get
better. To my sponsors, @clubbrytonusn, @ghostbikessa, @ballisticbike
and the tech support (mom,dad and fiancé), a big thank you for your
support. Henry Uys @met_uys
Race
Route:
Monday 4 February 2013
Bryton Voriberg #1
Bryton
Voriberg #1 02/Feb/2013
So the
Bryton Voriberg series was this past weekend, second race of the year
for me.
I've
been very keen to head out to Voriberg for some time now, especially
after checking the profile for the race and hearing from fellow
riders who have taken part in it. All I can say is, awesome track.
This is a proper mountain bike race/course, it had everything,
grassland then some thick sand, then bamboo tunnel, rocky single
track, flowing single track, steep climbing, technical descends, fast
open dirt road. I'm super impressed with the course layout of this
event and for all those looking for a challenge, or call themselves
mountain bikers, mark April 13 on your calender for Bryton Voriberg
#2.
The
race: I rolled out with the 70km start quietly confident in winning
the day, little did I know how hard and deep I'd have to dig to get
the result I wanted. The pace was steady and within the first 2km the
field was spread and I found myself sitting in 2nd
position trailing Angus Alexander (cycle lab) by a few seconds. I
wasn't familiar with the course so I figured let me shadow Angus and
wait for the second lap before I go hard, but within a few kms I had
lost site of him through the winding single track. I knew there were
climbs coming and all I was trying to do was keep it as smooth and
fast as possible so that when the climbs came I could hopefully catch
back up. So as I hoped I managed to get back to within 10 seconds of
Angus by the top of the climbs and figured I'd be good for the rest
of the lap just shadowing him again. But as Murphy would have it took
fall on a very badly rutted and muddy part of the course and then
shortly after had to stop to remove a part of plastic packet that had
got stuck in the dérailleur. With all this happening Angus had
managed to put a considerable amount of space between me and him and
I now had a lot of hard riding ahead.
I was
on the gas, full tilt down the now open dirt road, trying to claw my
way back to the rider in front. Missed a arrow, slam on brakes and
turn around and get back on course, again full tilt and looking ahead
to see if I can spot him to give some hope that I'm closing this gap.
Start of the second lap and still now sight of him, I'm starting feel
like I've lost this one but I don't allow myself to give up and keep
hammering on the pedals, burning up the energy levels. As I get to
the bottom of the first climb I spot Angus at the top and figure he's
got about 1 minute on me so I dig deep and push hard, I need to keep
him in sight. Approaching the second climb which is a lot longer, I
lose sight of him through the bushes but as it opens up and the climb
gets steeper I manage to close in on him, with one more hard kick
over the top I get onto the back wheel and hang on through the
technical rocking descent.
I've
caught up to him but I've spent huge amounts of energy to catch up,
now I had to get my tactics right. I decided to attack him, first
attack he managed to follow so I then had to focus on where my next
attack would be. As we neared the finish with 5kms to go there was a
slight rise up over a bridge, which I figured I would have to attack
there and attack HARD, so I attacked and managed to put some space
between us. Now it was full gas, everything I had left was going
into this effort, legs were screaming, energy levels running low,
fatigue setting in, but I wanted to win this one!! I managed to hold
Angus off and with one last big burst take the win by a couple of
seconds.
Race
number two for the year : 1st place
Big
thank you to my sponsors @Ballisticbike, Jason Theunissen (Ballistic
bike) and to the supporters @clubbrytonusn, a very big thank you for
your support. Hope to see you all at the next one.
Henry
Uys
@met_uys
Team
BrytonUSN
USN Cup #1 Race Report
Race
Report
USN
Cup #1 19/Jan/2013
So the
first race of my season finally arrived this weekend and I must say I
was quietly confident and very excited to see how the training over
the holidays has affected my overall form.
Wet,
Muddy, Slippery and dirty was the order of the day as the weather man
decided to make it interesting for the competitors at the USN Cup
series event #1. The race started with a Blistering pace set by Arno
du Toit (asg_PYcycling), eventual winner, and I immediately found
myself chasing hard to try and keep up with the young guns. The field
was ripped to pieces very quickly and within 2km there was a select
group of 4 riders (Arno du Toit,Ben Melt, Myself, Rowan Grobler)
followed by a couple others who were just off the pace (Sheldon
Dagley, asg_PYcycling rider, Julius Corbett)
I
managed to hang on in the front group as started to settle into the
fast pace being set by Arno and Ben. Arno was on the gas and eager to
keep the pace high going into the single track followed by Ben, Rowan
and myself, it was clear the Arno was quick in the single track as he
started to get a sizeable gap over Ben who seemed a bit tentative on
the Wet, Muddy and Slippery tracks. Unfortunately for Ben he nicked
his tyre on a sharp object coming out of a turn and had to stop and
repair it. It is then when I decided to try to close the gap which
Arno had gained on us, at first I didn't think that the gap was too
big so I set a steady pace but once we reached some open clear track
I realised he had made a good run through the tracks and had a
comfortable gap.
From
this point on it was full gas, taking risks on the slippery track and
trying to catch a glimpse of Arno to gauge whether or not catching
him would be possible. While trying to bridge the gap I found myself
on my own but a slight laps in concentration saw me go down on a
slippery corner, giving the other guys a chance to catch up. I got
back on and hit it hard, if they could keep up I'd have to worry
about that later, right now I wanted to get back to the front with
Arno, so I put my head down and went full gas. In the end it was too
little too late and Arno managed to take the win with no one in sight
to threaten. I finished 2nd and Julius Corbett 3rd
.
Thinking
back on the race I was happy with my result and still motivated to
keep improving, Thank you to my sponsors @ballisticbike Jason and his
staff for their support @USNSA @CLUBBRYTONUSN @BRYTONGPS, looking
forward to great 2013 season. Boom
Henry
Uys
@met_uys
Team
BrytonUSN
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