My first big
target of the 2014 season was waiting for me at the start of April as I
travelled to South Africa for the first World Cup of the year. It was the third
time I had travelled to this course in Pietermaritzburg with the previous two
times not going as well as planned. The first time I went was as a first year
under 23 and I had an aim of finishing in the top 10 which is were I was until
a puncture on the final lap ended that then on my second visit it was for the
world champs and I snapped my chain on the start line. So I was hoping it would
be third time lucky as I travelled this time and I was excited to race
especially on the course as it is one of the best in the world with lots of
technical features. We arrived a week before the event and managed to do some
riding in the local area, it was hot as well which was a nice change from the
UK. We started to get on the course around mid week as the race schedule has
now changed and my under 23 race is on a Sunday morning which means there is a
lot of time in the run in to have a look at the course. The course had changed
a fair bit and involved lot of new technical rock features and some of the old
original rock features. Race day was 11.00 on Sunday morning and I was ready to
go, with a gridding of 5th, which put me on the front row for the
first time I was excited to get going. I was quite nervous before the start, as
I was feeling quite good so I was happy to be lined up and ready to go. Soon
enough we were off and it was flat out down the start straight and into the
first single track. I had a good start and entered the trail inside the top 10
then from here I moved up through the first lap and put myself in the second
group of three with michiel van der heijden and Julian schelb. Jordan sarrou
was ahead with a bit of a gap after the first lap. We worked together a little
as a group but it soon split up with sarrou still ahead, then van der heijden,
then I was in third place with James Ried and Anton cooper together in 4th
and 5th. I was working hard to keep up with the pace in front and to
make sure I was riding well in all areas of the course. The race continued like
this for the main part and I was making sure to keep hydrated as it was about
35degrees. On the final lap I was still a similar length behind and still
trying to catch up and I was still the same length ahead of 4th as I
went down the final decent to the finish. I crossed the line 3rd place
which I was very pleased about! I have had 7 top 5 places at world cup level
but it was the first time I had made the podium so it was nice to finally get
on to the main stage and an exciting way to start my season. After this I
headed home with a couple of delayed flights back to Manchester to start racing
a bit of a block on the road.
Thanks for
reading, Grant.
