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Superstar Stander set for Sappi Scottburgh
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Game Plan Media : No: sappi1204
Scottburgh – The Sappi Scottburgh MTB Race received a major boost on Tuesday morning when Olympics bound mountain biking sensation Burry Stander (Specialized Racing) confirmed he will be on the start line for the popular South Coast event on Saturday morning.
Despite already having one foot on the plane ahead of his all-important RockyRoads UCI MTB World Cup Mont-Sainte-Anne clash in Canada the Port Shepstone based cross country star wasn’t going to miss the rare opportunity to tackle two consecutive events not far home.
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“I’ll definitely be there on Saturday,” said an
enthusiastic Stander. “I’m busy racing all over
the show most of the time so I only really get to
do two or three races on the South Coast a year
and I’m really looking forward to getting out
there this weekend.”
“It’s not all that often that I get the
opportunity to take part in a race close to home
so it’s really cool that I’ve got the opportunity
this year to do two races on back to back weekends
with last weekend’s Sardine Classic and now this
weekend’s race.”
Having finished fifteenth at the 2008 Olympic
Games in Beijing Stander is set on utilising the
experience he gained at his first Games and over
the past four years of racing the elite circuit to
catapult himself onto the podium at this year’s
London Olympics.
“The last few weeks have been my
last build up at home so it was really great to
take a bit of a break and then build things up
again before heading off to Canada which really
gets things going for me in preparation for the
Olympics,” said the Specialized Racing competitor.
“The Olympics has obviously been a long term goal
of mine for quite some time now and we’re getting
closer to crunch time so I’m starting to work
really hard on the focus and the little things
like getting my diet right but I’m just glad that
it’s nearly here now.”
“I’m definitely hoping to
medal at this year’s Games. Last time I went over
there to enjoy myself and see what it was all
about but for me the Olympics is all about the
medals and that is definitely my goal this time
around,” he added.
Despite having his sight firmly
set on achieving his dream of stepping up onto the
podium at the Olympic Games, the Port Shepstone
based athlete recently took another bold step when
he entered the world of married life. Stander and
fellow professional cyclist Cherise Taylor tied
the knot just a couple of weeks ago in a hometown
ceremony on Oslo Beach just outside Port
Shepstone.
“Cherise (Taylor) and I have been
living together for the past four years already so
not much has changed for us since we got married
but our wedding was really special and we had an
awesome honeymoon at a game farm just outside
Grahamstown and things are going really well for
us,” said Stander.
With online entries for this
weekend’s event only closing on Wednesday 13 June
Stander, who claimed victory in last weekend’s
Sardine Classic, is unsure who will be alongside
him on the start line however, irrespective of who
joins him and after last weekend’s Sardine Classic
victory, the South Coast superstar will be looking
for another solid performance on home turf before
jetting off overseas.
“I have no idea who will be
there this weekend but I fly out to the World Cup
on Sunday so for me it’s a great opportunity to
work on some last minute fine tuning and it’s
really cool to be able to ride to the event and
then get some really good, hard training in and
ride at home again,” said Stander. “I’m sure there
will still be a good race at the front, there
always is and last weekend at the Sardine Classic
was no different, so it gives me a chance to push
a little harder than I would in a normal training
session without having to travel all over the
world to do so,” he added.
The Sappi Scottburgh
MTB Race takes place on Saturday 16 June. The
event starts and finishes at Scottburgh main beach
and riders can take part in either the 45km
Classic, 28km Intermediate or the 10km Fun Ride.
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