The 16-year-old, who participated in the Under-16 category, won all eight of the events he entered at the event, which was held under the auspices of the newly amalgamated Eastern Province and Border cycling federations.

On the Friday evening, Gouveris claimed gold medals in the 200m time-trial (11:93), 2 000m individual pursuit (2:38:81), 500m time-trial (36:45) and 10km points race.

He followed these successes up on Saturday with wins in the 200m sprint (12:55), 1 500m (2:26:22), 5km (04:58:01) and keirin events.

“I’m happy with my times so far,” said Gouveris, who emphasised the importance of never underestimating his fellow competitors. “I just need to do a little bit more training, then I’m there.”

He is now looking forward to next month’s South African Track Cycling Championships in Cape Town. Although Gouveris is taking part in a number of events, his focus will be on the 200, 500 and 1 500m sprints.

When asked about the significance of last weekend’s performances at an event that was deemed “open” for the first time, he said, “I’ve been training hard for the SA Track Champs, so it’s good to see how I’m going against some of my rivals.”

The Grade 10 Pearson High School learner trains six days a week, splitting his efforts between the road and track. “At the moment I’m undecided,” he said about his personal preference. “I started off with road but the speed of the track is great.”

In July, Gouveris represented Eastern Province at the Eric van Enter SA Interprovincial Schools Championships at the Gariep Dam. There he won the 80km road race and criterium, helping his team to second place overall.

Gouveris also played a starring role at the SA Omnium Track Cycling Championships in Durban over the Easter weekend. He won five of six events and accumulated the most points overall, despite crashing in the 10km points race.

Although he has been cycling for just four years, Gouveris has notched up a string of successes and is hoping to turn professional after he completes his schooling. “That’s the goal,” he said.

It’s mission achieved for our mountain bike maestro Burry Stander!

Last year the KwaZulu-Natal cyclist set himself a testing two-medal target in 2010 and in Canada on Sunday he hit paydirt.

The occasion was the UCI world cross-country championships in Canada where he came third to take bronze.

Explains Stander: “This year’s world championships have been a very exciting proposition for me. Ever since winning the Under-23 world champs in Canberra, Australia last year I set two optimistic goals for the 2010 season — to win medals a both the marathon world championships and the cross-country world championships a month later.”

The first medal, also a bronze, came in St Wendell, Germany last month.

On Sunday Stander faded slightly towards the end of the race, not surprising the broad range of challenges he’s put his body through this year.

Winner was the little Spaniard Jose Hermida in 1hr 52min 26sec from the Czech Republic’s Juroslaf Kulhawy. This after Stander had spent a fair section of the seven-lap race in the lead before he went on to end 1:10 down from the winning time.

“I knew I wasn’t going to be as luck at the XCO champs with that sort of form so went home to focus and set about making it happen. I knew I had some good shape the motivation was sky-high.”

The weekend’s championships were at Mont Saintt Anne. “I’ve raced there for a couple of years now and I think they did a great job of the course for this year’s worlds. The loop was shortened somewhat which meant we would do the two big climbs more often than before. The course also had the sweetest bridges I’ve ever ridden over. It was like a skatepark out there!

“The Specialized team did an awesome job again this week as our bikes had to be race ready not once,but twice this week as we had team relay on Wednesday.

As for race day, Stander, a member of SASCOC’s OPEX squad for potential medallists in 2012, saw it like this on his blog report: “On the morning of the race it had rained quite heavily but it was drying out a little whilst the women were fighting it out on the course. We started at 2pm and the clouds were threatening. I had a great jump of the line and got through the first turn in the lead. I held onto the the front until the first climb where I settled into the lead group before dropping into the first single track.

“We did two start laps which comprised the half of the full lap with the most climbing. After the two laps I was in third trailing by around 10 sec. I had settled into my own pace on a track that offered very little drafting with riders positions swapping for most of the race.

“I just tried to stay relaxed as I knew it was going to be very tough at the end. Midway through the full laps of which we did six I hit the front of the race again. On my heels though was Jose and Juroslaf. It was indeed a tough battle at the end in which I had to settle for the second bronze medal of the year!

“It was an incredible feeling to end the season by achieving the goal I wanted most!”

So what’s next for Stander? “Now I’m looking forward to some time off now before racing Roc d’azur in October.”

It is debatable whether Jaco Venter, Dylan Girdlestone and Bradley Potgieter will recover in time to race in any of the last three big Classics of the season, namely Amashova, OFM and 94.7.

Venter broke his arm in three places.  Girdlestone broke his shoulder bone and, as luck would have it, Potgieter injured the same ankle he fractured in a car accident early this year.

Reinhardt Janse van Rensburg, who was also training with his teammates on the road just past the Hartbeeshoek Satellite Station west of Pretoria, said they were busy with a team motorpacing session when the accident happened.

“Jaco and I were riding next to one another, while Bradley and Dylan were just in front of us. Roughly estimated, we were doing about 80km/ph when Jaco hit the pothole.”

According to Janse van Rensburg, the moment the accident happened Venter’s bicycle shot up in the air.  Moments later he totally lost control and crashed down at high speed.

When Ian Wilson, the driver of the Kombi that was used by the riders for their motorpacing, saw in his rearview mirror that Venter had crashed, he immediately braked.

“Unfortunately, Dylan and Bradley were looking backwards to see what had happened to Jaco and whether he was OK.  They did not realise that the Kombi was slowing down and consequently they crashed into it at full speed. Dylan’s shoulder really looked bad.  Just glancing at it I could see that the bone had broken right through.”

This accident means that MTN-Energade will be racing with only half a team in the Dome2Dome race in Johannesburg on Sunday (5 September).

The accident did not faze Janse van Rensburg.  “Now I am really motivated to win. On Sunday I will not be racing for myself but for my injured teammates. I badly want to win the Dome2Dome for them.  It would be the least I could do.”

“We share in the disappointment of Jaco, Dylan, and Bradley as they had high hopes for the remaining Classics this year. However, we wish them a speedy recovery and know that they will come back even more motivated than before,” says Bernard Pieters, seniors sponsorship manager at MTN South Africa.

“John-Lee Augustyn and Ben Swift both pulled out because they could not continue as they were so sick,” said Team Sky team principal Dave Brailsford.

According to the BBC website Brailsford added: “It’s basically they can’t stop vomiting but we don’t think it’s food poisoning.

“We’ve got our own chef and the riders and staff eat separately and we’re always very vigilant about hygiene.”

Minnaar and Gee Atherton took their tightly fought season to the finale with Atherton emerging victorious on the day in a nail biter all the way down to the finish line. Steve Peat was on a smoking run, but took a nasty spill near the finish, which caused him to place 55th, and seventh overall in the series. Josh Bryceland’s 12th place finish completed his seas on with a 23rd place series overall.

This was the first UCI World Cup held in the US in five years and the small, quaint Americana town of Windham, New York rolled out the red carpet for the cycling entourage. Since the mountain hadn’t had rain for some time the red, clay soil held the moisture long after the rain stopped. Maxxis High Rollers were the tyre choice for the week and performed well in the wet to drying conditions. And Muc-Off cleaners whisked the red mud right off, keeping the carbon V-10’s looking brilliant.

The first day of practice was going well until the afternoon when there was a big injury scare. Minnaar was following Peat down the track and got offline and hit a tree and his forearm near the elbow took the brutal impact and dislocated his elbow. Minnaar looked at his arm and his arm and hand was sticking out the wrong direction. Peat heard the impact and went to help him. As they went to the medics, Minnaar’s arm slowly worked its way back into place. After Minnaar was examined and the x-ray showed no fractures. He felt the joint was stable and his strength was good and he was sure he would race the qualifier the next day, which was crucial to pick up valuable points towards the overall.

Going into this race Minnaar found himself out of the leaders jersey for the first time all year since winning in Maribor. Atherton had seven points on Minnaar and the monkey of the leaders jersey on his back to defend. On Friday morning Minnaar tested the arm and it was stable enough. After a few practice runs the guys went up for the qualifier. It went very well for the Santa Cruz riders with Peat winning it, Minnaar in fourth to Atherton’s fifth, Josh was in eighth and Cedric Gracia in 10th. The points gained between Minnaar and Atherton was only three, so four points separated them, making it a dead heat going into Sunday’s race.

As the race unfolded and Brendan Fairclough was in the hotseat. Bryceland came down with a 12th place run which he was disappointed with after qualifying well, he just didn’t adapt well enough to the dry, changing track conditions. Then Swiss rider, Nick Beer had a very fast run and bumped Fairclough out of the hotseat.

As expected,  Atherton came down and eclipsed the time of Beer by nearly three seconds to take the hotseat. As he climbed up Minnaar was on course giving his all with the mental strength of the giant that he is. He was down .68 at the split and was sure to gain a bit more time, but it just wasn’t enough and he crossed the line in 2nd, just .37 seconds back of Atherton. This placed him second overall for the year in a tightly fought contest.

Fastest qualifier, Steve was on track exhibiting his regained form. When the split time flashed green, 1.4 seconds ahead of Atherton the crowd went insane! Just about to pop into sight, the crowd cheering him in, disaster struck and he went down hard, reminiscent of World Championships in Les Gets, France where he make a similar mistake. The crowd was aghast as Peat picked up his bike and jumped back on. Shaken but not broken, he crossed the line in 2:41.26 in 55th place.

Said Atherton: “It was great to be racing in America again. Windham was an awesome venue. Practice went well all week and I liked the track, my Carbon Santa Cruz V-10 was perfect all week with Ricky Bobby looking after it. The track reminded me of old school Mt. Snow, Vermont from back in the day. It was fast and flowing and hard to carry speed, but that was the key to a good run. I was stoked to qualify fastest! It’s been awhile since I did that. I felt at home with the fast guys. I was really confident for the finals, maybe a little too confident because I overcooked the step down coming into the finish and carcassed hard while leading at the split. At least I know I have some of my speed back and I’m looking forward to World Championships!”

Minnaar was pleased with his race run and effort and talked about the week, “The first day of practice I crashed out and injured my elbow, dislocating it. I spent most the night at the hospital trying to get it x-rayed. I had some treatment from US Cycling’s physical therapist, Bernard Condaveaux, before Friday’s practice. It wasn’t too bad physically to ride, but just mentally to get over it. The qualifier that day went well and being ahead of Gee was important. I knew I’d have to step things up more for the final. My final went as good as it could and all I was aiming for was the hotseat as I knew Gee would be in it when I came down. Unfortunately I was .37 seconds slower than Gee which means I had to settle for second best for the season. It’s been a good season racing with Gee. We battled all season and he beat me fair and square in the end.”

Next up are the World Championships in Quebec where Atherton and Minnaar will both be battling for the win.

MEN’S DOWNHILL TOP TEN:

1st: Gee Atherton 2:28.28
2nd: Greg Minnaar(Santa Cruz Syndicate) 2:28.65
3rd: Sam Blenkinsop 2:30.19
4th: Aaron Gwin 2:30.88
5th: Nick Beer 2:31.66
6th: Marc Beaumont 2:31.71
7th: Steve Smith 2:31.76
8th: Brook McDonald 2:33.29
9th Brendan Faircloug h 2:33.49
10th: Justin Leov 2:33.57

MEN’S DOWNHILL OVERALL TOP TEN:
1st: Gee Atherton 1229
2nd: Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate) 1185
3rd: Sam Blenkinsop 864
4th: Aaron Gwin 757
5th: Marc Beaumont 633
6th: Brendan Fairclough 606
7th: Steve Peat (Santa Cruz Syndicate) 491
8th: Danny Hart 482
9th: Fabien Pedemanaud 480
10th: Steve Smith 478

Max Knox (DCM) finished third, with Jacques Janse van Rensburg (DCM) fourth and Adrian Niyonshuti (MTN-Energade) fifth.

With this victory Evans ensured that his name will be part of the South African mountain-biking folklore for years to come.  No rider has ever dominated the MTN series, as well as its predecessor the Mazda series, in the way this rider from Plettenberg Bay has done during the past decade.

Evans has now won the series overall for a record sixth time.  By winning the MTN Cullinan ultra-marathon on Saturday, he also set a personal record.  It was his fourth victory, which is one more than in previous years when he only won three races in the MTN series.

After the race, a dust-covered Evans was not prepared to make any predictions on how long he intends to dominate the MTN series.
“Immediately after the race is not a good time to ask me such questions. I would love to win the series overall once more.  Perhaps it would then be time to call it quits, but at this stage nothing is final.”

According to Evans he would like to defend his title in the Crater Cruise ultra-marathon of the MTN series, if his body should allow him to do so. “Luckily, there is no pressure on me for the rest of the series.  I have achieved what I had set out to do. Therefore, I am just going to enjoy myself and take things as they come in the last two races.”

According to Evans the deciding moment in the race came at about 70km. “Up until then we were all just riding along at a comfortable pace.  This was totally different from what happened in the World Marathon Championship in Germany, where the racing was flat out right from the word go.

“Because of the easy pace, I decided that it was a good time for me to take a chance. I then attacked and made sure that it counted. Only David (George) could stay with me. It suited me to a tee to have David with me because we worked well together to make sure that nobody could catch up with us again.

“I was never worried about what would happen during the sprint for the line. Naturally I was racing to win, but if David should have beaten me, it would not have been the end of the world.  I only had to finish before Max (Knox) to win the series overall.

“Going into the sprint, I was lucky to get in front of David in the crucial final corner. This gave me a slight advantage in the sprint.”

David George, who was even more covered in dust than Evans, was not upset about being outsprinted by his friend. “It was a good race and the best man won.”

George said the MTN ultra-marathon was much tougher than he had expected. “Actually, it was a perfect marathon course because there was something of everything – thick sand, tough little climbs, technical rocky sections etc.”

Knox experienced some bad luck when the saddle of his mountain bike broke after about 20 kilometers. He could keep on riding, but the loose saddle prevented him from getting into a steady rhythm.

“I cannot use my broken saddle as an excuse. Up to about 70 kilometers, when the racing was not really that hard, I could stay with the front riders.

“Towards the end of the race, when it really started to count, I just did not have the legs. That was to be expected, because I was definitely not 100% racing fit going into the race. I have only been training again for the past two weeks. Given another month, I will hopefully be ready to start winning races again.”

Janse van Rensburg, who just managed to pip Niyonshuti in a frantic sprint for the line to finish fourth, said he surprised himself.

“It was the first time that I have raced since I broke my collarbone, so I am not complaining. I will admit that I was scared during a good part of the race. I kept thinking how bad it would be if I should fall again and break my collarbone for a second time. That meant that I played it safe in the technical sections and I was careful not to take any risks.”

In the women’s race Ischen Stopforth let her legs do the talking. Yolandi du Toit (Bizhub) finished second with Karien van Jaarsveld (USN) third, Sanet Smal (Ghost) fourth and Caitlin de Wet (Specialized/Mr Price) fifth.

After this weekend there will be no need any longer to wonder about Stopforth’s whereabouts.  Just watch the winners’ podium after every MTN mountain bike race.  There is a strong possibility that you will find the doctor from George standing on one of the steps.

Stopforth’s problems began just after the MTN Attakwas marathon in January, when she crashed quite heavily during a training ride. Being a doctor herself, she immediately realized that her collarbone was broken.  What she did not realize, was that she had also fractured her pelvic bone.

During her recovery period, Stopforth committed the cardinal sin of ignoring a piece of wisdom that she would have advised her patients to keep in mind if they were in the same situation, namely to take things easy and to give the body ample opportunity to heal itself. In short, it boils down to the well-known proverb which says that ‘patience is a virtue’.

“It was very frustrating. Every time I began to feel better, I started to do too much too soon and ended up paying the price.  Therefore, it took me much longer than it should have to be back on my mountain bike and to do some real training.

“Cullinan is my first serious race in nearly six months and my first major victory since winning the MTN Clarence Marathon last year.”

Listening to Stopforth when she talks about her experiences during the race, one comes to the conclusion that she was lucky not to get injured again.

Apparently there was a sharp corner in one of the very sandy sections at an early stage of the race. Going into the corner, Stopforth was boxed in by Du Toit and De Wet with a quad bike just behind her. As luck would have it, she lost control over her bike for a brief second and this was all she needed to crash. The quad driver had to keep his wits about him to avoid riding into Stopforth.

According to Stopforth, she had to chase very hard to catch up with De Wet and Du Toit when she was back on her mountain bike.

“To me it felt like an eternity before I could join up with them again.”

Shortly afterwards De Wet punctured and this effectively put an end to her chances of winning.  During the  the rest of the race she had to battle to ensure that there was enough air in her tyres. She arrived at the finish with a plug that looked like a miniature antenna sticking out her rear tyre.

Du Toit managed to outride Stopforth in a very technical rocky section in one of the game reserves. However, it was not her day either. About 10 kilometers from the finish, Du Toit’s body decided that it had had enough fun for one day and went on ‘strike’.

Du Toit said: “I just had nothing left in my legs.  This meant that, when Ischen caught up with me again, I simply could not stay with her.  I had to watch as she became a mere speck, way ahead of me, and then finally disappeared from sight.”

Still, it was not all plain sailing for Stopforth. Near the end of the race, she lost her way for a while. Luckily she managed to find the right track again.

Du Toit said afterwards that she had ‘a rude awakening’ during the race.

“I expected the MTN Cullinan race to be a nice cycling experience like the Nissan Diamond Rush in Cullinan was, but it certainly was not. The MTN race was much tougher.  At times I had the feeling that we were riding where no other mountain bike has ever gone before.”

It proves that SASCOC is serious when they talk about winning 12 medals at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Esterhuizen might just win one of those 12 medals for South Africa.

The 17-year old Durbanite caused quite a stir when he won the one-kilometre time trial in a world-class time of 1min 03.265sec at the UCI Junior World Track Championship in Italy. He also finished fourth in the Keirin final and sixth in the match sprint final.

Esterhuizen returned to South Africa only this week after an eight-month training stint at the UCI Training Academy in Switzerland.

Trying to persuade South Africa’s first pro-elite world track champion since the fifties to talk about his golden moment at the UCI Junior World Track Championship, proved to be no easy task. After battling, without success, for more than 10 minutes to get Esterhuizen to boast just a little, it became clear that this youngster was definitely much faster on his track bicycle than with his mouth.

However, there was one fact that Esterhuizen was happy to acknowledge: “I lack experience. I know I am fast enough to beat the world’s best, but I am not always clever enough. I tend to make vital mistakes and in track sprinting I cannot afford to do that because every hundredth of a second counts.”

For this reason William Newman, Cycling South Africa, should be applauded for making sure that Esterhuizen will compete at the Commonwealth Games.

Newman said: “Before the announcement of the first Commonwealth Games team, I explained to SASCOC why it was important to select Esterhuizen.  I told them that he is definitely included in CSA’s vision for the Olympic Games.  It is, therefore, important that he should gain experience by making use of every possible opportunity to compete against the world’s best.”

“I must admit that I was disappointed when Bernard did not make it in the first cut, but I give SASCOC credit for being prepared to listen to me for a second time after Bernard won his gold medal in the 1km time trial.”

As mentioned, Esterhuizen is hesitant to boast about his cycling achievements. In an interview of about 10 minutes the only interesting fact that he was willing to divulge, was that he started to cycle when he was eight years old. When he was 14 he decided to be a track cyclist and since then he has won numerous medals at South African track championships.

He is driven by the belief that he has the ability to become one of the world’s best. That is why he did not think twice before accepting the opportunity to go to Switzerland to train at the UCI Academy.

Esterhuizen admits that it was tough being away from his parents and friends for eight months. At times he was very homesick, but he knew that he had to make sacrifices in order to achieve his dreams. “Luckily, I also made some good friends in Switzerland.”

Esterhuizen is full of praise for the coaching at the Academy. “If it had not been for the people at the Academy, I certainly would not have won a medal. The coaches really go out of their way to ensure that you a have a fair chance of becoming a world champion.”

When asked whether he had any role models, Esterhuizen hesitated before he finally said ‘not really’. However, he is full of praise for the way Sarah Hammer, the individual women’s pursuit world champion, helped him.

It is not generally known that Esterhuizen comes from a true KwaZulu-Natal cycling family.  His father is Wickus Esterhuizen. Wickus competed at the World Veteran Cycling championships in Manchester in the year 2000 in the age group 35+.  Then, in 2001 and 2002, Wickus rode at these championships again and won the sprint title on both occasions.

This means that there is a possibility that we might have the first father and son in South Africa who become world champions in the same sport.

Newman had other good news about the Commonwealth Games. SASCOC agreed that Jay Thomson and Jaco Venter may also compete in the scratch race on the track at the Games. The fact that South Africa will have three riders in the race certainly increases the chance of winning a medal.

When asked about Bernard Esterhuizen’s gold medal achievement at the UCI’s Junior World Track Championship in Montichiari, Italy, an elated JP van Zyl, a former South African track cycling great, said:

“Back in the days when I finished fifth in the sprints during the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, I thought that I was the ‘Real Deal’, but Bernard’s winning performance in the one kilometre time trial is something else. It is an unbelievable performance. Nobody can doubt any longer that Bernard is the ‘Real Deal’ of SA track cycling.

“His winning time of 1:03.265 is world class. In my opinion it is lightning fast and a new South African senior record.”

At 50km, it’s one of the shorter events on the national calendar, but its close proximity Johannesburg and Pretoria and glamorous location at the Lost City leisure resort, make it one of the more prestigious races, attracting over 1100 entrants this year.

The short distance, combined with the relatively flat nature of the terrain, made for tight racing and a fast pace from the start. Team DCM, which included Max Knox, Brandon Stewart and Jacques Janse van Rensburg, set a rapid pace from the gun on the 2 x 25km lap race.

Also present at the front of the race were Philip Buys and Francois Theron (both Garmin adidas), Nico Bell, Jock Green and Tiaan Swart (both Ghost Bikes), Andrew McLean (Cyclelab Toyota), Neil Macdonald (Team Medscheme) and Shaun Leach.

“It was a very fast pace. The DCM riders were on a mission and I was worried when I crashed at the start of the second lap,” explained Bellingan afterwards. “I lost about 30 seconds in the crash and had to dig really deep to catch the front group, which I did, but I was shattered and somehow managed to recover!”

As Bellinghan rejoined the lead pack, Knox attacked and rode clear alone for the next 13km before being reeled in. During the final kilometres the lead group was narrowed down to six – Stewart, Knox, Buys, Bellingan, Macdonald and Bell.

The route took the riders around the BMX track before they hit the final tarred car park stretch to the finish line.

“The BMX track split the front group up a bit and I hit the tarmac about 50 metres behind Philip (Buys). I began to wind up my sprint, but thought he might be too far ahead to catch. But I found I just kept going and he faded towards the end, which allowed me to just pip him at the line!”

Bellingan’s winning time of 1 hour 26 minutes 03 seconds, calculated to an average speed of 34.86 kph.

In the women’s race, a three-way battle developed between Sanet Smal (Ghost Bikes) and the Team Bizhub pair of Lise Olivier and Yolandi du Toit. Despite remounting as quickly as possible after a crash, Smal was unable to rejoin the battle for the top of the podium, which was eventually claimed by Olivier, with Du Toit securing second and Smal third.

Smal, drafted in mid-May by the Gauteng-based team to fill the sprinting void, left her effort as late as possible into a slight headwind to relegate Lynette Burger (Toyota-Cycle Lab) and An-Li Pretorius (MTN-Energade) into second and third respectively. Her winning time was 2:54:11.

The men’s race was won by Reinhardt Janse van Rensburg (MTN-Energade) in 2:22:56. Medscheme team-mates Malcolm Lange and Arran Brown completed the podium.

“It was the perfect setting for a mass sprint – the road was wide and it was slightly downhill,” said the 26-year-old Smal, who lives in Pretoria. “With the headwind, I knew I had to leave it as late as possible.”

National time-trial champion Casandra Slingerland took control of the main bunch – which was 17 riders strong – about a kilometre out with team-mate Pretorius on her wheel. “I sat on An-Li’s wheel with Lynette on mine,” explained Smal.

“An-Li kicked first, but I think she went a bit too early and when she faded I went around her on the right and Lynette on the left.

“We were shoulder to shoulder over the last 30 metres. I could see her out of the corner of my eye. It was only in the last few metres that I pulled clear.”

Smal admitted that she was confident that she could win if the race came down to a sprint – and on the largely flat course few would’ve bet against a bunch finish.

“I’m really, really happy with this win. It’s my first for bizhub. Recently I’ve been on the podium quite a lot, but winning is winning.”

Smal paid tribute to her team-mates, and especially Lise Olivier, whose hard work throughout the race helped set the victory up. “Lise chased a number of breaks down. She was awesome today.”

Olivier, meanwhile, completed a fantastic weekend for the team by winning the Cansa Lost City Mountain Bike Challenge, contested over two loops of 25 kilometres each, in 1:44:50 the following day.

“I didn’t push too hard at the beginning – I could still feel the Trans Baviaans in my legs,” Olivier said afterwards. “And then Yolandi (du Toit) and I and a few others took a wrong turn.”

After getting back on course, Olivier once again lost ground – this time to Du Toit – when she was forced to dismount on a rocky uphill.

“It took me about five kilometres to catch back up to her and from there we rode together until we caught and passed Sanet (Team Ghost) at the start of lap two.”

Olivier, who said she felt stronger and stronger as the race progressed, then took the lead for the first time as Du Toit started to falter.

Our newly crowned world girls BMX champion Teagan O’Keeffe still has a third and last cycling race at the inuagural Youth Olympic Games in Singapore and is enjoying the opportunity of a lifetime.

O’Keeffe won her world BMX title in Pietermaritzburg a few weeks back and has already competed in the mountain bike and BMX sections of the cycling competition in Singapore and now it’s the unfamiliar road time trial to go.

“It is not my discipline so I really can’t predict how I will do because it is also not a lot of the others girls’ fortes either. I have done quite a bit of road training with my BMX coach when I was in Switzerland but we were just using it as base training… but I will give it my best of course.

“As far as me competing in the three different disciplines goes, it has been really crazy. For me to have to compete in my first ever mtb race at an Olympic level was not easy but I tried. I feel that the MTB training and racing, compromised my leg speed for the BMX race and that frustrated me because I had to race feeling dead tired and my performance was affected. I dont understand why we had to do the MTB race before the BMX but that was the way it went.”

Seventeen-year-old O’Keeffe, a matric pupil from Kloof in KwaZulu-Natal is already setting her sights on her next competition. “That will be the Grand Nationals in PMB in South Africa and then internationally I would like to go and race the super cross BMX race in Frejus,in the south of France in October if I get funding. I raced that race last year and it was really a fun event!

The youngster also raved about the Youth Olympics experience. “You cannot believe the experience. Back home not much was spoken about the Youth Olympics here in Singapore. The government has spent $300 million and it is huge beyond words. We have been so spoilt and been treated like royalty. The opening ceremony was better than I ever expected.