'I spent four years studying and running in the United States,' he says. 'As part of the NCAA system, my focus was on track and cross country. The combination of training and competing at that level, as well as studying was intense. Despite the workload, both of the universities I attended went out of their way to make our lives as comfortable as possible. It certainly was a great experience.'
If one does a Google search for the 1992 Milk Race, a few cryptic entries pop up. A 12 day stage race across the United Kingdom open to both professional and amateur riders predominates, as does the fact that the race was won by unheralded Irishman Conor Henry. The race included national teams from a host of countries, as well as a sprinkling of British and European professional teams, all bidding for good results in the fortnight's romp around "Mud Island".
Also on the startlist was the South African National Team, the first official cycling team from that country to compete overseas after the lifting of sporting sanctions and, like the other national teams present, made up of riders looking for Olympic selection to the Barcelona Games later that same year. Needless to say it was quite an eye opener for the South Africans, and a brutal one at that, as SA team member Greg von Holdt remembers.
'My first Comrades went really well,' he says. 'My preparation was spot on, as did the race. I had won the Long Tom Marathon earlier that year and was confident of my chances. In the end, I finished in a great 5:54. But 1996 was the first year that the Russian athletes took the race by storm and so I only finished 21st.
By then over 30 years of age, Albe was entering his prime as an ultra endurance athlete. He would eventually earn not one but two gold medals at The Ultimate Human Race, along with a multitude of top-15 places. His journey to Comrades glory, though, was not exactly conventional. But then Albe Geldenhuys is not your typical athlete.
On a chilly June Sunday, some twenty four hours after a personal best cross country performance, Chubasco Juries went for his usual long run. Covering around 17km in a shade under 90min, such a regimen would be considered pretty much standard fare amongst his peers. No big deal. And then like many athletes, he noted down the session in his training diary, just like he does for each and every run. But this is where the similarity to others stops. You see, Chubasco is not your usual athlete. Yes, he trains consistently and yes, he is meticulous. Yet most of his training is done barefoot. And almost exclusively up and down his yard at home.
There have been many examples of athletes training in confinement. The pandemic and associated garden jogging notwithstanding, there are those who have sought to complete their training sessions in spite of their respective locations. From UN pilots on mercy missions in Afghanistan jogging around their mess hall to one former Ironman champion completing his scheduled two hour run at midnight around a hotel tennis court, lack of suitable training locations hasn't been a problem for the super-motivated. But the majority of these cases were out of necessity rather than choice; needless to say life returned to normal once back in their usual environs. But what if "training in confinement" was in fact beneficial? And actually improved athletic performance? Crazy, right? Well not so, according to Chubasco Juries.
Type in the name Scott Mercier to an internet search engine and the terms 'professional cyclist' and 'author' are bound to predominate. Yes, the American was indeed a professional rider, and an exceptional one at that. A late starter in the sport, Scott represented the US at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 after only 18 months in the sport, turning professional soon after. And yes, he is a scribe, his autobiography Win True having been released this past February. While the book details Scott's racing career, it is interwoven with life lessons using the peloton as a lens.
These days, Scott calls Colorado home. Married with two children, he works in finance and rides his bike for leisure. Rewind almost three decades, though, and some of his greatest memories as a racing cyclist took place on the roads of South Africa in a two-wheeled battle royale.
The 1970s weren't exactly great days for South Africa. 1976 was an especially tumultuous year for the Republic, which was making international headlines for all the wrong reasons. The sports boycott was also in full force and the country was coming up for its fourth exclusion from the Olympic Games. Apart from the likes of distance runner Marcello Fiasconaro competing for foreign nations (Italy in Marcello's case), no South African sportsmen or women could officially compete in the international arena. Unofficially, though, it was a different story.
The header photo of the Springbok cycling team circa 1976 is a veritable "who's who" of South African cycling folklore. Allan Dipple, Eddie King, manager Gotty Hansen and Robbie McIntosh are sandwiched in between Alan Van Heerden and Ertjies Bezuidenhout. Unbeknown to most, the "Green and Gold" was being represented with distinction on two wheels in the Low Countries that year. Which begs the question: what (and how) the heck was a South African sporting team competing internationally at the height of the country's pariah status?
Multi-talented individuals are rare birds. Even in the current era of people switching careers, starting various businesses and side hustles, not to mention moving between different sports, those true all rounders who possess an array of skills and actually apply them in life are few and far between. But they are out there.
Scott Richardson has worn many hats throughout his life. Take his tertiary qualifications for instance. Film and video technology, human movement science and sports administration are all industries in which he holds diplomas and degrees, not to mention extensive work experience. Throw in stints in cycling team management and high performance athlete training and development and it would be fair to say that his CV is rather comprehensive. Now based in Saudi Arabia, Scott is immersed in sports administration and talent identification with the fledgling Mahd Sports Academy. It is a role that he knows well after over a dozen years spent developing similar systems in Qatar and Malaysia. Yes, he is a busy man and, as he says, he loves a challenge. And it was these very traits that saw him forge a successful elite cycling career in the 1990s.
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And then a bombshell: Jani returned a positive test for a banned substance at the end of 2018, something which was later attributed to a meal replacement supplement he had been using. The haters rubbed their hands in glee – great, another one of "them" has been caught! Go get him! Burn him at the stake, make an example out of him and chuck him out of the sport. Another rider assigned to the proverbial scrap heap so to speak, another statistic, another "bad" guy.
If one thinks of South African professional cycling over the ages and tries to identify one individual who fits the aforementioned description, Robbie McIntosh would be a likely candidate. A prolific champion for many years, Robbie's longtime rivalry with the late Alan Van Heerden are part of South African cycling folklore. Then there is his tough exterior and never-say-die attitude. No, Robbie wasn't nicknamed "Rambo'' because of his love for Vietnam movies. Nor did his success on the roads of South Africa and Europe or his current activities come easy. You see, beneath his prolific palmares and seemingly tough guy image exists an extremely humble, intelligent and empathetic individual, one who has nurtured younger riders and even provided care for an ailing past rival.
It looked like it was all over. Despite being on the cusp of competing at the international level in modern pentathlon, Jen Rorrison decided to call time on a lucrative US collegiate athletic scholarship. Maybe the goal of competing in the 1988 Seoul Olympics just wasn't meant to be, she reasoned. Perhaps it was simply time to return home to South Africa and get on with life. The dream was gone, accept and move on. Not that this decision came lightly.
The name Jen Rorrison is one that resonates with many. Through her work as a structural alignment therapist, Jen has helped legions of individuals overcome chronic pain. Possibly best known for her use of corrective wedges made out of Yellow Pages, Jen's career included a long spell based in Cape Town's South Peninsula area. Unbeknown to many, though, is her journey to that point and beyond. It is a voyage that has been both traumatic and euphoric, all the while with a strong sense of intuition and self-direction.
From the outside there is a big expectation from the public. They see us and say if we don’t win it, or even if we finish second, then it's a failure. Most other teams would love to finish anywhere on the podium. The hardest pressure was my first year at the Tour, after just two years as a sports director (DS). In 2012 Froomey finished second in the Tour and Dave (Brailsford) decided that I would do the Vuelta with him that year, to build up confidence with him and the group and target the next Tour de France. In 2013 everybody, everybody, was expecting to see Froomey win the Tour de France. No question. And I thought, ‘Wow. It’s going to be my first Tour de France as a DS, and straight away boom, I needed to win it. Personally I felt a lot of pressure and I think it was probably one of the most beautiful experiences as a DS I’ve ever had - but also super stressful. At one point, after one week, I’d lost that much weight - I stepped on the scales and I was just one kilo heavier than I was when I was a bike rider, at my Tour weight! I went from 75 to boom! The team doctor said to me, ‘come on Nico, you need to eat something.’ But the riders and Dave helped me. I didn’t want to show any stress, but inside… wow, it was hard! But after that, the next Tours were easier. I was under so much pressure and then after that it was easier. I said, poof, I did it, I did it well, and it gave me a lot of confidence. I told myself I need to work hard, as hard as I did, but I knew I was putting myself under too much pressure and that wasn’t going to help. I feel like I cope better now.
The last time I saw Hans Becking was at Val di Sole in 2018. Having competed in a marathon MTB event in the Trento area the previous day, Hans popped into our setup to say hello to his old team and also encourage a young David Nordemann, then still in his second year as an U23. Life was good in the marathon racing scene, he said to me, before adding that he was now a "veganist" and that is how I should pronounce "vegan" given that I was working for a Dutch team. End of story.
Fast forward to the now and Hans, together with teammate José Dias, scooped three stage wins at the Cape Epic. Thanks to their success, Becking and Dias were familiar names throughout the week long slog through the Western Cape. Lesser known, though, is that Hans got a last minute call up to the Tour of Britain just over a month ago.
The reason? A Continental level New Zealand team were short of riders due to visa expirations and had to fill their roster. Short of specific preparation, Hans hastily made his way to "mud island" and played a key team role during the eight day race between Penzance and Aberdeen dominated by Wout Van Aert. Not bad for a few days notice and in the midst of a long off road season that didn't involve much road racing.
Goed gedaan.
A Student for Life
'I am reading and studying all the time. The more I can take in, the more I can have powerful and clear intuition on what my client needs. And this continuing education extends to my own activities. For instance, I went for a run today in Vibram Five Finger shoes on a rocky, uneven trail. This is something that would have crippled me just five years ago. So I'm unquestionably a student for life.'
Colby Pearce has worn many hats. Professional cyclist, USA Cycling Track Endurance Coach, US Hour Record Holder, directeur sportif in the formative years of the team now known as EF Education First Pro Cycling. All roles that he has performed with distinction. Fast forward to the present day and Colby continues to juggle, and then some. Coaching and bike fitting are mainstays in his current working life, as is designing track frames, hosting a weekly podcast and consulting to World Tour riders and teams. Yes, Colby Pearce is indeed a busy man. But he's not a hypocrite. You see, despite his life seemingly being all things "bike", Colby is not your typical Type-A jock. Quite the contrary in fact.
