{"id":15311,"date":"2019-10-15T09:55:00","date_gmt":"2019-10-15T08:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/2019\/10\/15\/young-guns-category-drawing-young-riders-to-the-kap-sani2c-r7984\/"},"modified":"2023-02-08T05:13:52","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T05:13:52","slug":"young-guns-category-drawing-young-riders-to-the-kap-sani2c-r7984","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/young-guns-category-drawing-young-riders-to-the-kap-sani2c-r7984\/","title":{"rendered":"Young Guns category drawing young riders to the KAP sani2c"},"content":{"rendered":"

Young riders are entering the 2020 KAP sani2c<\/a>, the iconic 3 day mountain bike stage race that takes place in KZN in May each year. At the 2019 event, a \u201cYoung Guns\u201d category awarded prize money to the top men\u2019s and women\u2019s teams aged 19-23. In 2020 the prize money will extend to a second and third team prize for men and women, with a total purse of R 60k (R 15k for 1st, R 10k for second and R 5k for third).<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-81606400-1571133405.jpg\"<\/a>Photo Em Gatland<\/span><\/p>\n

Race founder \u2018Farmer\u2019 Glen Haw says he is seeing younger riders being drawn to the stage racing events but that he hopes the prize money incentive would play an important role in attracting the younger riders to sani2c. \u201cWe see a lot of parents bringing their children to ride with them when they turn 18; this is where we see most of our young riders coming from at the moment. Many riders look forward to passing on the tradition of sani2c and enjoy the shift to riding with family.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving said that, we definitely want to see the ambitious young athletes pushing to enter and win their age categories – the prize money will hopefully motivate the competitive element amongst this group of riders.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-71206800-1571133408.jpg\"<\/a>Photo Kelvin Trautman<\/span><\/p>\n

Danielle Strydom from Potchefstroom, aged 20, was chuffed to be the winner of the 2019 Young Guns for women: \u201csani2C 2018 was my very first full stage race and honestly I was nervous as hell going into it, just because I didn\u2019t know how I would handle the distances.<\/p>\n

But it was the perfect ice breaker and from the first day\u2019s 3,2,1 GO! all of the nerves melted away into pure excitement and enjoyment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sani2c team really makes an effort to cater for all types of riders and that is something that really stood out for me and also why we came back again this year. The route could be as hard or as mild as you like, it\u2019s up to you. Even though there are tough climbs and technical descents, nothing is unrideable and only improves your skills. With fellow riders and crew cheering you on along the route, one cannot help but push yourself – all with a smile because of the stunning views and awesome trails. The vibe is amazing.<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-12536200-1571133410.jpg\"<\/a>Danielle Strydom (left) and Kristen Louw won the Young Guns women\u2019s race at the 2019 KAP sani2c. Photo Kelvin Trautman<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWinning Young Guns gave us a major confidence boost in both our skills and capabilities.
Having such an amazing first experience, we had high expectations leading into this year\u2019s sani2c and again the team exceeded them all. They are called \u201ciconic” trails for a reason and we will be back to shred again and again. sani2c doesn\u2019t just allow young riders to participate, but encourages them and gives them their own limelight to shine in.<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-34250000-1571133412.jpg\"<\/a>Photo Anthony Grote<\/span><\/p>\n

Kristen Louw, 21 years old and also from Potchefstroom, was Danielle\u2019s riding partner and comments: \u201cFor me sani2c is my favourite race of the year. Everything about sani2c is special. The route down to the coast is breathtaking. The support from the organisers, community people, spectators and riders along the route till the end is awesome and you can truly see the passion and love for the sport through them. Whenever someone asks me why I love cycling, I just tell them \u2018Go ride sani2c and you will understand why.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cWinning the Young Guns category motivated me to want to compete in more long-distance races. Having a category for your age motivates you to go and ride this big race, as you know you will have a \u2018fair\u2019 chance in racing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-30278900-1571133415.jpg\"<\/a>Photo Kevin Sawyer<\/span><\/p>\n

Erick Heyns is 19 and lives in Johannesburg. He and teammate Freddie Humphries won the men\u2019s Young Guns category and he had this to say about his sani2c experience: \u201cThe routes are amazing and they really go out of their way to make it rideable for any skill level rider. The chill zones were a highlight for me, a wide variety of snacks and lots of chocolate milk! Overall a great race.<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-73559800-1571133421.jpg\"<\/a>Photo Kelvin Trautman<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWinning the Young Guns category meant a lot because it was my biggest payday to date and cycling being an expensive sport, it helped with entry fees for the rest of the year. And I\u2019ll claim the fame of being the first guys winning the Young Guns category at sani2c.<\/p>\n

\u201csani2c was for me personally a great introduction to stage racing, it being not too technical but technical enough to make it a lot of fun. I would recommend it to any \u2018young gun\u2019 not sure of entering.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-54895200-1571133417.jpg\"<\/a>Photo Em Gatland<\/span><\/p>\n

Seasoned dormakaba rider Sam Sanders, multiple sani2c womens\u2019 winner, says: \u201cI think the stage race culture in SA is alive and well. Having said that, there does seem to be a dearth of young riders (particularly young women) coming through the ranks as a whole. Creating a race category for the younger athletes and incentivising it is progressive for the sport in general and it will give these younger riders the opportunity to gain exposure for themselves and their sponsors in their own right. I believe that is a step in the right direction for our sport.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-61040500-1571133419.jpg\"<\/a>Photo Kevin Sawyer<\/span><\/p>\n

The KAP sani2c is 16 years old and has established itself as a bucket list three days of riding from Underberg to Scottburgh in Kwa-Zulu Natal. Three versions of the event, the Trail, Adventure and Race, take place between 12 and 16 May 2020. Enter at www.sani2c.co.za<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\nFollow sani2c on social media for news and inspiration:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Facebook: sani2c<\/a>
Twitter: _sani2c<\/a>
Instagram: _sani2c<\/a>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Young riders are entering the 2020 KAP sani2c, the iconic 3 day mountain bike stage race that takes place in KZN in May each year. At the 2019 event, a \u201cYoung Guns\u201d category awarded prize money to the top men\u2019s and women\u2019s teams aged 19-23. In 2020 the prize money will extend to a second […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":26307,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[53],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-15311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-sani2c"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15311\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15311"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=15311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}