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:
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