Trio to rub shoulders with top mountain bikers

Three young cyclists of the Soutpansberg area are on their way to rub shoulders with some of South Africa’s elite mountain bikers.

Kombo Bere, Gerhart Meyer and Richard Lambert will travel to Nelspruit this coming weekend to participate in the opening round of the Stihl 2016 SA XCO Cup Series. The Zoutpansberger caught up with the trio on Tuesday, only days ahead of their departure to this prestigious race. 

The squad from Louis Trichardt High School had their nerves under tight control; not only will they represent their school but also the Limpopo Province. All three of them have been following an extremely rigorous training program over the December holidays. “First we focused on long distance, but we alternate between distance and intervals,” explained Kombo. 

All three of them said the distances were the best part. “Doing sprints is hard … phew!” remarked Gerhart. “Jip, distances are lekker,” Richard and Kombo joined in.

Sprinting is, however, of vital importance to prepare them for the unique type of mountain biking that is XCO. Cyclists have to go round a marked-out track that consists of a lap of just under 5km. Kombo described the track as “quite fast, with a few climbs.”

Saturday’s race will be his second at Mankele, but his first time cycling in the pro men’s category. Both he and Gerhart are in matric this year and have to compete in the U/19 age category. “It’s going to be a challenge – cycling with the pros … ja, it’s going to be a huge challenge,” remarked Gerhart.

For Gerhart and Richard, the race will be their first professional national race, which is also a Union Cyclist International (UCI) qualifying event. Richardt had already shown last year that he can hold his own in these types of competitions. Last year, he finished seventh overall in the Spur Schools Mountain Bike Finals and 14th overall in the national race.

Gerhart is fairly new to both the local and national racing circuits, but is fast carving out a name for himself. Last year he took 67th position overall in the Spur Finals and finished 55th in the national finals.

Kombo, on the other hand, has dominated podiums during local races since 2014. He won the Munnik Meerkat, the gruelling Akkedis and the Seekoei, to name but a few. He also showed his mettle in road races by winning the Vula-Vula 70km race in 2015.

In the past, however, his participation in national competitions has been characterized by bad falls that caused him to lose valuable time. And in a XCO race, time is of the essence - a second can mean the difference between first place or 10th place.

The Stihl SA XCO Cup Series is made up of five events, planned over the remainder of 2016. Saturday’s race will therefore not only give elite mountain bikers the chance to gain UCI points. This means that Kombo and Gerhart will gain valuable points in the pro-elite race that will go towards their international ranking.

The other focus of the race will also be on junior riders like Richard, who will aim to qualify for the UCI Junior World Series and compete for the Stihl 2016 SA XCO Cup Title.

Especially for Kombo, this race will be a good opportunity to get those important UCI points, as they will enable him to work towards his goal of competing in the 2020 Olympics. “That’s the life goal,” said Kombo. 

The trio’s mentor, Stanley Thompson, said all of them had shown good form during the past year. “I’ve got high hopes for all three of them this year. They have exercised and worked hard to get to where they are now,” said Stanley.

Cup racing happens all over South Africa, and can sometimes get expensive and pose a problem for schoolboys with a limited budget. All three of them are assisted by the P&L Cycling Club as far as possible, but help and assistance are always welcome from local businesses and sponsors. Stanley can be contacted at Tel 082 493 3897 for more information on this.

Sport - Date: 01 February 2016

Isabel Venter

Isabel joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in 2009 as a reporter. She holds a BA Degree in Communication Sciences from the University of South Africa. Her beat is mainly crime and court reporting.

Email: [email protected]