{"id":18805,"date":"2016-01-28T18:30:00","date_gmt":"2016-01-28T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/2016\/01\/28\/lill-and-woolcock-seeing-red-and-so-does-a-rwandan-r4050\/"},"modified":"2023-02-08T08:45:12","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T08:45:12","slug":"lill-and-woolcock-seeing-red-and-so-does-a-rwandan-r4050","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/lill-and-woolcock-seeing-red-and-so-does-a-rwandan-r4050\/","title":{"rendered":"Lill and Woolcock seeing red and so does a Rwandan"},"content":{"rendered":"

In recent years the Absa African special jersey has become one of the most sought after in cycling on the continent.<\/p>\n

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The distinctive red jersey is awarded to the first team with both riders from Africa to finish the Absa Cape Epic. In 2015 all-South African pairings finished the overall standings in fifth, sixth and seventh place.<\/p>\n

The third of those three teams home was the Darren Lill and Waylon Woolcock combination after their ride had been plagued by illness and mechanical misfortune.<\/p>\n

They will be returning in 2016 as Team USN Purefit with the red jersey firmly in their sights.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Absa African jersey is our priority goal,\u201d said Woolcock. \u201cWhatever extra we collect in the process is a bonus.\u201d Lill was a little more specific: \u201cOur ambitions are overall podium (top three), Absa African jersey, and hopefully a stage win along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

They were enthusiastic about the prospect of taking on a route containing more singletrack than ever before in the Absa Cape Epic: \u201cFrom what I have seen I like it,\u201d said Woolcock. \u201cI\u2019m also happy that a lot of the route takes place on familiar training grounds.\u201d<\/p>\n

They are also alert to the fact that in spite of the overall route being shorter there will be more climbing per kilometre than ever before: \u201cThe stages may seem shorter, but it\u2019s sure to be challenging, as always,\u201d said Lill.<\/p>\n

They have formed a strong partnership over the past few years and Lill said that Woolcock\u2019s strengths are his level headedness, his all-round consistency and his ability to \u201cdig really deep on a bad day\u201d.<\/p>\n

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Lill said his partner was mentally strong, supportive as a teammate and also a very good climber.<\/p>\n

They will both be riding Cannondale Scalpel 29ers.<\/p>\n

Another team that might fancy its chances of competing for the red jersey is the Rwandan\/South African combination of Nathan Byukusenge and Thinus Redelinghuys (Team Rwanda).<\/p>\n

Byukenge is 35 and has three Epic finishes to his name. This year he is eyeing a top 15 finish with the 25-year-old South African, who has already made a name for himself by winning national marathon series races.<\/p>\n

In spite of the fact that they will soon be sharing eight days of pain, they have yet to meet: \u201cI haven\u2019t met my partner yet but I hear good things about Thinus and how strong he is,\u201d said Byukenge. \u201cI\u2019m very happy to be riding with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are working on a plan to ride together before the Epic as it is very important to know your riding partner\u2019s abilities \u2013 where you can push him and where he can push you \u2013 so that we can get the best result together,\u201d said Redelinghuys, adding that they might do a race or two together in February.<\/p>\n

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Redelinghuys, a marathon specialist, said it was difficult to assess their chances \u201csince I have never raced the Absa Cape Epic and have no idea about the intensity of the race \u2026 but a top 15 finish would be amazing taking into account all the overseas riders and the best of South Africa will be competing for the top step\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the 2016 Epic being my first Epic and eight-day stage race I\u2019m expecting it to be tough both physically and mentally,\u201d he said. \u201cDespite the fact that it\u2019s going to be eight days of suffering I’m really excited.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that the route \u201clooks awesome with quite a bit of climbing, which will hopefully suit me\u201d.<\/p>\n

Byukenge will be hoping to finish the Absa Cape Epic for the fourth time: \u201cIt\u2019s one of the best mountain bike races in the world \u2013 I really like the South African people and all the friends I\u2019ve met from all over the world. They remember me, maybe because there are not many Rwandans racing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we first did the Cape Epic in 2007 nobody could believe there was a team from Rwanda. Many people thought we were still at war,\u201d explained the Rwandan. \u201cWe have been working hard to race at a higher and higher level, not just on the road where we primarily compete, but also on mountain bikes.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cNine years later people in Rwanda are starting to put their children on bikes, not for work, but to become a cyclist like the members of the national team. Coming to compete in the Cape Epic, which is one of the biggest races in the world, just shows the growth of Rwandan cycling. There are many Rwandans living in South Africa and I hope they will come out to support Thinus and I.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In recent years the Absa African special jersey has become one of the most sought after in cycling on the continent. The distinctive red jersey is awarded to the first team with both riders from Africa to finish the Absa Cape Epic. In 2015 all-South African pairings finished the overall standings in fifth, sixth and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":44701,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[76,24,2641,3145,3146,962],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-18805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-absa-cape-epic","tag-cape-epic","tag-darren-lill","tag-nathan-byukusenge","tag-thinus-redelinghuys","tag-waylon-woolcock"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18805","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=18805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18805\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18805"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=18805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}