{"id":18657,"date":"2016-02-26T07:10:00","date_gmt":"2016-02-26T07:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/2016\/02\/26\/kargo-pro-cycling-team-gear-up-for-2nd-sa-xco-cup-r4219\/"},"modified":"2023-02-08T08:38:46","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T08:38:46","slug":"kargo-pro-cycling-team-gear-up-for-2nd-sa-xco-cup-r4219","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/kargo-pro-cycling-team-gear-up-for-2nd-sa-xco-cup-r4219\/","title":{"rendered":"Kargo Pro Cycling Team Gear Up for 2nd SA XCO Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Kargo Cycling camp is abuzz with anticipation ahead of the 2nd Stihl 2016 SA XCO Cup Series race at Helderberg Farm in the Western Cape this weekend.<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-19659500-1456470790.jpg\"<\/a>Frankie du Toit at the 1st KZN MTB Provincial XCO Series Race in Hilton on 6 Feb 2016. Photo Credit Boogs Photography.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hayley Smith and Frankie du Toit have been in the Western Cape since Monday, attending a skills training camp with Chris Nixon and preparing for the race.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have also been doing some interval training and core strengthening exercises,\u201d says Hayley Smith, one of the new additions to the team. \u201cMy preparations have been going well and I am loving being part of the Kargo team,\u201d she enthuses. \u201cWe have an awesome group of riders and I find it really special just being part of each rider\u2019s journey at a race and experiencing all the highs and lows that go with racing.\u201d Hayley placed 6th Elite Women in the 1st SA XCO Cup Series at Mankele, just behind defending National XCO Elite Women\u2019s champion, Cherie Vale.<\/p>\n

Frankie is recovering well after illness put her off the bike last week, and she is positive going into the race on Saturday. \u201cThe training with Chris has done my skills the world of good and we\u2019ve had some quality training on the Cape roads.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-97024300-1456470789.jpg\"<\/a>Alan Hatherly at the 1st KZN MTB Provincial XCO Series Race in Hilton on 6 Feb 2016. Photo Credit Boogs Photography.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a Rio 2016 hopeful, Frankie says Olympic selection changes her approach to racing. \u201cI\u2019m now more focused on performing, whereas before I was more focused on gaining experience,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cA highlight of my season so far is definitely the first SA XCO Cup Series at Mankele where I came 2nd Elite Women and 1st South African lady across the finish. Lining up with some of my cycling role models was in itself amazing, but beating them was crazy! You always dream that it would happen, but don\u2019t actually expect it to come true!\u201d she says humbly. \u201cSo the whole experience around that race was great and I am super keen to prove this weekend that it wasn\u2019t a fluke and I can do it again.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the men\u2019s race, all eyes will be on U23 Alan Hatherly who will be looking to take the overall win. \u201cMy preparations have been really good leading up to Cape Town, I\u2019ve managed to get some quality speed sessions in which I\u2019m sure will pay off. My focus for the week has just been to ride the bike, nothing much changes until I\u2019m actually on the start line.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the 9th place U23 Men\u2019s MTB rider in the world, he doesn\u2019t let the pressure get to him. \u201cI would say it\u2019s more motivating than pressure, because I always want to be better and improve on my results. I\u2019m really hoping to move up those ranks by the end of the year!\u201d<\/p>\n

\nFull Team Kargo Roster for the 2nd Stihl 2016 SA XCO Cup Series in the Western Cape: <\/strong><\/p>\n

Elite Men<\/strong>
Jurgens Uys<\/p>\n

U23 Men<\/strong>
Alan Hatherly
Marco Joubert<\/p>\n

Junior Men<\/strong>
Brandon van der Berg
Pieter du Toit<\/p>\n

U23 Women <\/strong>
Frankie du Toit
Hayley Smith<\/p>\n

Junior Women <\/strong>
Kristen Louw\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Kargo Cycling camp is abuzz with anticipation ahead of the 2nd Stihl 2016 SA XCO Cup Series race at Helderberg Farm in the Western Cape this weekend. Frankie du Toit at the 1st KZN MTB Provincial XCO Series Race in Hilton on 6 Feb 2016. Photo Credit Boogs Photography. Hayley Smith and Frankie du […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":44289,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[3070,2331,1406],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-18657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-kargo-pro-cycling","tag-kargo-pro-cycling-team","tag-sa-xco-cup-series"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18657","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=18657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18657"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=18657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}