"2012 Will Be My Year" - Burry Stander

[Matt]

The first rider to check out the new course planned for the RockyRoads UCI MTB World Cup in Pietermaritzburg from 16th to 18th March was none other than young South African mountain bike legend Burry Stander, oozing confidence and vowing, "2012 will be my year."

 

The 24-year old from Umtentweni on the KwaZulu-Natal south coast has taken a vastly different approach to his racing this year, using scientific analysis and support from the Sports Science Institute of South Africa (SSISA) in Cape Town, and feels that he has prepared and planned well to be able to make 2012 his most successful year yet.

 

"2012 is going to be my year," said MTB icon Burry Stander as he begins his preparations on the course at The Cascades MTB Park ahead of the RockyRoads UCI MTB World Cup © Dave Macleod/Gameplan Media

 

Stander has three top priorities for 2012 - the RockyRoads UCI MTB World Cup, the ABSA Cape Epic and the Olympic Games in London. "The World Cup is what I have in my sights right now," said Stander.

 

Stander set off to race the modified layout at the Cascades MTB Park to clinically gather power output data so that his training, diet and preparations can be fine-tuned by the scientists at SSISA.

 

"It helps a lot," says Stander. "Not only in terms of planning, nutrition and recovery, but it gives me a lot of confidence and makes me even more motivated. Things didn't really go my way in 2011 - I had a lot of bad luck and made some poor decisions. This year I really feel that I can achieve what I set out to achieve."

 

Stander added that he was really looking forward to competing in the World Cup in Pietermaritzburg because the support he gets from the crowd makes a major impact on his performance.

 

"It's phenomenal what a difference the support makes," said Stander. "Last year (when he bent his derailleur leaving him without crucial climbing gears and then crashed later in the race) I was seriously thinking about pulling out of the race. It was only because of the support that I was getting from the crowd that I carried on."

 

He still cherishes memories of his 2009 performance when he raced to third in the World Cup against a backdrop of hysterical crowd support at the Cascades course, and ranks that right up there with his U23 world championships triumph and World Cup win in Switzerland.

 

Burry Stander was the first elite cross-country rider to start work on the revised Cascades MTB park layout ahead of the RockyRoads UCI MTB World Cup © Dave Macleod/Gameplan Media

 

Stander urged mountain bike supporters to get their tickets for the event and to support all the South African cross-country and downhill riders to enable them to maximise the advantage of racing at home.

 

Ticket packages are now on sale through the Cycling South Africa website at significantly discounted rates. Online tickets can be purchased here: http://csams.cycling...r-an-event.aspx. Click on 'Purchase Tickets and Merchandise Only' in the MTB XC/DH World Cup section. A breakdown of the ticket package options can be found here: http://www.mtbworldc...za/tickets.html.

 

Stander was enthusiastic about the changes planned for the cross-country layout, converting it to a figure-of-eight shape with two technical and feeding zones in close proximity to each other.

 

"There is also more climbing, which is going to be very significant," continued Stander. "This will favour the stronger climbers and you may see a few new names featuring at the front this time around."

 

The RockyRoads UCI MTB World Cup Pietermaritzburg takes place at the Cascades MTB Park from 16th to 18th March 2012. More information can be found at www.mtbworldcupsa.co.za.

 

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[andretraut]

2012 will be Burry's year cause he is getting married soon! Nothing to do with cycling!

[Excite_Bike]

Are the dates for the Pietermaritzburg stage correct. I thought they were moving to September/October this year?

[kosmonooit]

Hope that bad 'technical' luck last year is a thing of the past - go Burry, we are all rooting for you!

[Matt]

Are the dates for the Pietermaritzburg stage correct. I thought they were moving to September/October this year?

 

The dates are 100% correct:

 

RockyRoads UCI MTB World Cup Pietermaritzburg takes place at the Cascades MTB Park from 16th to 18th March 2012

 

See the website for more details: www.mtbworldcupsa.co.za

[Danger Dassie]

Bloody good news, no doubt he'll do us proud! Alongside our other riders, definitely a great ambassador for the sport ... Next time though, use some decent PR pics Gameplan

['Dale]

One of his major goals is also an Olympic Gold.