Speedy wins Attakwas Extreme women's race and finishes among top-20 men

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Kevin Evans (MTN-Energade) started 2010 in exactly the same way that he had ended 2009, i.e. by winning races on his mountain bike. On Saturday he won the MTN Attakwas Ultra-marathon over 135 km from Oudtshoorn to Groot Brak. in fine style. Teammate Yolande Speedy dominated the women's race over the same distance and finished 19th overall, more than 35 minutes ahead of her nearest rival and leaving nearly 300 male riders in her wake.

"It is always special to win the races which are sponsored by your own sponsors," Evans said afterward.

According to him the word "extreme" acquired new meaning for him when referring to the MTN Attakwas. "It was an extreme distance (137 km), extremely technical, and extremely hard! I reckon this will be rated as the toughest single-day race in the country. I think I had a definitive advantage over everyone else because I had done all previous Attakwas races. I knew the route well and also the conditions of the terrain. I even knew which tyres to use."

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As expected, Burry Stander (Specialized) waited for exactly the right moment to make his move. He timed his attack to perfection. The moment he came to the 4x4 jeep trail, Stander accelerated.

It was really tough going, very similar to what one would find in a cross country race, which meant that it was technical. The riders had to get off their bikes and run through certain sections before getting back on again. This suited Stander, the world's third-best cross country rider, to a tee.

Only Evans, David George (Fullimput) and Max Knox (DCM) could stay with him. Unfortunately, Knox punctured early and from then on he had to play catch up.

"As we hit the hardest climb on the trail, Burry and I opened up a gap on David, and then further extended our lead when we hit the technical descent on the other side. Things were looking good, and I was sure that Burry and I could work together once we were on the open roads. Unfortunately for Burry, he had a puncture only about 500 meters from the end of the roughest part of the trail," Evans explained.

"This left me out on my own, with a slight headwind, 60km of rolling roads, a chasing bunch behind me and nobody to talk to. I had timed the gap between me and David George, who was chasing by himself," said Evans. "He was clearly putting in a huge effort to catch me as quickly as he could.

"It did not bother me. I knew what still lay ahead and was not prepared to be caught in a cat and mouse game. I just made sure that I kept as much energy as possible in reserve for the tough final 15km," said Evans. "I don't think David took that into account because he kept on closing in on me all the time. Just before the last two hard climbs, David had me down to a gap of only 40 seconds.

"I used the last of my saved energy and really powered up the climb to see if David had any stamina left. I managed to drop David and to open a gap of close to 5 minutes between ourselves over the final 10 km."

Knox kept his cool to finish third. "I did allow myself to get rattled the first time I punctured," said Knox. "I knew that there was nothing I could do about it. I had some bad luck. Shortly after I had fixed the first puncture, I experienced another one. The third time I punctured I had nothing left with which to do repairs, so I had to wait for another rider to help me.

"Just before we reached the technical zone I had another puncture. That meant that I had to run for about a kilometer before I could get a wheel change. By that time I was about 12 minutes behind Kevin and in the seventh position," said Knox. "I realized that there was nothing left for me to do, so I just rode the rest of the race at my own tempo." During that time Knox managed to pass three riders.

Stander also experienced a bout of bad luck after puncturing. "The third time I punctured I decided this is it. It was race over for me.

"It is not as if I will go away empty-handed from the race. I learned a very important lesson and that is that when you race in the Western Cape, you have to use a slightly heavier tyre, otherwise punctures will make your life hell. Luckily for me, Specialized has developed a new slightly heavier tyre which I will use when racing in the Cape Epic," said Stander.

Speedy speeds to women's win and meets personal goal

When Yolandé Speedy (MTN Energade) finished 19th overall on Saturday, beating more than 400 male riders in the process, she proved that she does not shy away from personal goals. One of Speedy's new year resolutions (or goals) was to achieve a top-20 finish in one the MTN Ultra-marathon events and, in doing so, she made a long-cherished dream come true.

"In the past, I had managed to finish in the top-20, but it was always in one of the smaller races in which some of the top male riders did not compete."

Why is a top-twenty finish so important? "I am a firm believer in setting myself tough, but achievable, goals. You have to do that if you want to continue to improve. If you don't have something to work for, you will lose interest, stagnate and end up just going through the motions."

According to Speedy, she realized half-way through the race that she was on track to achieve her goal. "During the race, spectators along the route kept telling me what my overall position was. When I heard that I was 27th overall I said to myself - 'Yolandé, now you just have seven more riders to pass'.

"The important thing for me was not to lose my cool and to remain focused. It was an awesome feeling when I crossed the finishing line knowing that I was one of the first twenty riders to complete the race."

When asked if she thought she'd dented a few male egos along the way, she replied, "I guess so, but on the whole most of the male riders took their beating in a good spirit and just congratulated me on a good ride. Remember, nothing is certain in mountain biking until you have crossed the finishing line.

"I had a good race on Saturday. Nothing could go wrong for me. In my next race matters might turn out to be different. Many of the male riders whom I had beaten on Saturday might then have a good race."

This is the first year that Speedy is riding for MTN-energade's team. "The main reason why I have decided to change sponsors is because riding for MTN means that I will get more opportunities to compete internationally. One of my other New Year resolutions is to see if I can improve my international ranking in both cross country races and marathons. To be able to do that you have to compete overseas on a regular basis.

"Riding for MTN also means that I will be competing in more of the local marathons. I also want to represent South Africa in both the cross country and marathon World Championships."

Participation in this year's Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India, is another one of Speedy's goals. But she is not so sure that there will be a mountain-bike event at the Games. I have already heard that there will not be a triathlon event because the water is not clean enough for the athletes to swim in."

Speedy's next big challenge is to perform well in the MTN Barberton Event in two weeks' time.

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