https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/photo.php?v=10151569516367111<\/a><\/div>\n\u201cThe feeling I had when we reached the top of the climb was just amazing,\u201d Sebona said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt felt great to be the first black rider who managed to stick with Sauser up the Alps. That moment will always be very special. I was proud to be wearing the white and green jersey of Exxaro, knowing that I was making my sponsors proud.\u201d Apparently some of the seasoned professional riders were surprised that Sebona was riding on an aluminium bike while they were all riding on much lighter carbon fibre bikes.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the things that I have learned from the TransAlp, is that success does not depend only on the equipment you use. What really matters is how hungry you are to succeed.\u201d According to Maseko, the TransAlp is actually an easier tour than the Absa Cape Epic. The climbs in the Alps are definitely longer and steeper, but you can ride it. In the Epic you are challenged by shorter climbs, but in many instances they are almost unrideable because of all the loose rocks. You often have to get off and run with your bike.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the TransAlp you can ride all the way to the top if you put your mind to it. You really get to know how steep the Alps are when you are on a mountain bike. At the beginning of a stage it can sometimes be quite hot, but the higher you go up the mountain, the colder it gets. We even saw some snow on the top of the mountains.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Maseko, racing down the mountains was quite an experience. \u201cAt times I thought I could smell my own fear while going down at speed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sebona said the main challenge on the downhill sections was to remain focussed. \u201cIt is so easy to overshoot a corner at high speed. I saw quite a few riders going down because of being over eager.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cKarl Platt, another of the mountain-biking greats, was also friendly and helpful,\u201d Sebona said. The two riders want to thank Exxaro for making the TransAlp a reality to them. They are also grateful to Rennies Travel for sponsoring their flights and for hosting their parents overnight in Johannesburg to see them off at the airport. The send-off was an exciting and emotional experience for riders and parents alike.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was an awesome experience and a great confidence booster. We have much to tell to our Exxaro teammates. We might even be able to teach them a few new things,\u201d Maseko said. “And watch this space. In the not too distant future we are going to give some of the seasoned local professionals a run for their money.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Phillimon Sebona and Prince Maseko described their participation in the Craft TransAlp. The two youngsters were certainly not there only to make up numbers in the peloton. They finished 30th in the last stage and 45th overall. \u201cIt was fun and a great life-changing experience.\u201d This was how Phillimon Sebona and Prince Maseko (Exxaro MTB […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[5221,2294,487,1014,5222],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-21582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-events","tag-craft-transalp","tag-exxaro-mtb-academy","tag-mtb","tag-phillimon-sebona","tag-prince-maseko"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21582","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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21582"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21582\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21582"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=21582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}