World Champs GOALS?

[Epic Rookie]

Flame-suit on, but please understand, I have the utmost respect for our riders and what they have achieved, I have no misguided pretense that I am in anyway better than any of them and I am wholeheartedly behind our South African Riders.

 

I'm not too sure how this is going to go but I just read an article on the other bicycle site I sometimes frequent and it was a summary of one of our SA Riders and their experiences at the recent World Champs.

It was heart felt and very positive in the way the crowd support was there and all the info on the backing and difficulty of getting to that position and finally finishing the race in the top 50!

 

Now my hard and brutal response is "so what?"

All that effort and the sacrifices and that was the result?

Really?

Has Burry left such a chasm in our sport in South Africa that we get excited and cheer on our riders for placing nowhere near the podium?

Is that what we aim for now? Have we not been fostering talent behind the likes of Burry, someone to come through the ranks and take up his position?

 

Like I said, i know i'm being brutal and I am not looking for an argument, all I want to know is what are we aiming for in our elite ranks of MTBers?

[Guest Omega Man]

Um. Greg Minnaar won.

[Epic Rookie]

Um. Greg Minnaar won.

Really? Missed that?

No, i'm joking but wasn't really talking about the DH, we owned that, hands down!

[Eldron]

We cheered for the riders because they were South African not because we were supporting a top 50.

 

We also cheered for riders that got up after a crash - no - we were not supporting their lack of skill.

 

World champs work like this: you send the best you've got and they finish as best they can.

 

You obviously missed Philip in the top 12 before a small crash then in 24/25th until a rock bit him hard. You obviously missed Miss Strauss crashing out in the semis of the XCE. JP du Plessis 19th in the junior DH?

[Guest Omega Man]

Really? Missed that?

No, i'm joking but wasn't really talking about the DH, we owned that, hands down!

Ja just messing too.

[Epic Rookie]

We cheered for the riders because they were South African not because we were supporting a top 50.

 

We also cheered for riders that got up after a crash - no - we were not supporting their lack of skill.

 

World champs work like this: you send the best you've got and they finish as best they can.

 

You obviously missed Philip in the top 12 before a small crash then in 24/25th until a rock bit him hard. You obviously missed Miss Strauss crashing out in the semis of the XCE. JP du Plessis 19th in the junior DH?

 

Completely understand that, we are a very supportive and patriotic country, we don't just cheer our riders, we cheer everybody, winners and losers but that is not my question, I want to know if we have anyone close to what we had with Burry?

 

We had Greg, an outright hopeful for World Domination, do we have anybody similar in the other categories?

 

Are we up there on a World Class stage?

 

Is 19th good enough?

Are Semis good enough?

 

We beg and plead for more finance and support but surely we want podiums?

 

Take the compassion out of it, our riders just had a crap load of bad luck but at the end of the day, when we look at the results sheet, is that good enough?

 

Do we have riders that can get there?

 

A good example, Bafana Bafana, we love them, they have our undying support but will they ever be World Cup winners? Probably not?

Edited September 3, 2013 by Epic Rookie

[gummibear]

Completely understand that, we are a very supportive and patriotic country, we don't just cheer our riders, we cheer everybody, winners and losers but that is not my question, I want to know if we have anyone close to what we had with Burry?

 

We had Greg, an outright hopeful for World Domination, do we have anybody similar in the other categories?

 

Are we up there on a World Class stage?

 

Is 19th good enough?

Are Semis good enough?

 

We beg and plead for more finance and support but surely we want podiums?

 

Take the compassion out of it, our riders just had a crap load of bad luck but at the end of the day, when we look at the results sheet, is that good enough?

 

Do we have riders that can get there?

 

A good example, Bafana Bafana, we love them, they have our undying support but will they ever be World Cup winners? Probably not?

 

They were riding against the best in the world....what do you want a 1st,2nd and 3rd in the elite male and females.

I've been to many World Cup races and seen SA riders do pretty well.

SA riders do much better at marathon races.

[Epic Rookie]

They were riding against the best in the world....what do you want a 1st,2nd and 3rd in the elite male and females.

I've been to many World Cup races and seen SA riders do pretty well.

SA riders do much better at marathon races.

Great, that's what i was wondering.

Thanks

[Eldron]

Great, that's what i was wondering.

Thanks

 

My suggestion is having a read through the results - that way you can answer your own questions.

 

From what I remember:

 

Mariske top 10 - Candice just behind her in the U23.

Brandon Davids top 20? U23. Luke, James, Arno middle of the pack.

Juniors we had a a rider near the front in both boys and girls...

[Eldron]

I want to know if we have anyone close to what we had with Burry?

 

Is 19th good enough?

Are Semis good enough?

 

We beg and plead for more finance and support but surely we want podiums?

Do we have riders that can get there?

 

 

Domination is tough at worlds - there are at least 7 really strong countries and 3 medals per event - 4 countries are gonna miss out.

 

We had a better showing at U23 and juniors than elite so hopefully we'll head towards medal positions in the coming years.

[Weight Weenie]

Renay, who I think the OP is referring to, hasn't ridden many WC XCO races AFIK so realistically top 50 is a good result.

 

Phillip is there, he just needs a bit of time and more experience abroad. He's done what, one season focusing on XCO doing WC races? Look at Burry's initial races, he was all over the show. It takes time plying your trade on the WC circuit to get anywhere, same as road racers needing to hit euro land to get that racing experience.

 

With that experience come UCI points and ranking so you can start toward the front. With the courses as they are you are going to have to work REALLY hard to make up so many places to finish well if you start at the back with all that singletrack. Our guys don't race WC much so don't have a good ranking so have to contend with crashes in the pack, sitting behind riders etc and are exhausted as they need to gas it to pass everyone.

 

IMO with the interest in marathons here and the lack of XCO races and interest and participation in them together with very little experience on the WC XCO circuit how can we expect to have our riders up there? We are actually doing very well (taking above into consideration) with promising U23 talent, just hope they nurture them into the elites well.

 

Worlds is also one race, if you screw up that's it, versus a WC season where you get more chances.

[Danger Dassie]

The short answer, there is no identifying and nurturing of talent to develop riders to their potential. Not just athletically, but mentally as well.

Look at the French, kids that choose cycling partake in a number of disciplines and after a time focus on a particular discipline.

 

Until there's a bona fide and recognised structure from within school level like that, we'll continue to have inconsistent performance levels.