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

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

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 8^th 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 8^th 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 9^th overall.

I had made the race hard for myself to see how far I could push, 9^th 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.

Results : http://www.spectrumsport.co.za/Portals/17/ResultDoc/MTN_Rooiberg_20130615.pdf

Photos By Zoon Cronje : www.zcmc.co.za  

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 2^nd 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.

http://app.strava.com/activities/59314191 

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!!

Alittle bit of information - Is cycling a good sport to sponsor? Click the link below for a bit more info.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/vaughters-dollar-for-dollar-cycling-is-the-most-efficient-marketing-buy-out-there