Robyn de Groot’s third-place finish at the National MTB Series race at Van Gaalen this past weekend was all part of the “bigger picture”, the multiple national marathon champion said.
The Ascendis Health rider, who heads the overall standings, finished a minute behind winner Candice Lill and runner-up Samantha Sanders on Saturday.
“This weekend was far from my usual performance, however, I knew this would be the case going into the event,” said De Groot, who commended Lill and Sanders on their exciting racing.
Robyn de Groot, who finished third at the fifth round of the National MTB Series, said she had taken a short break before preparing for the second half of the season. Photo: ZC Marketing Consulting
The pair dropped her on a particularly long stretch of single-track before continuing to battle it out among themselves. Lill edged her way ahead of Sanders before the final turn to the finish to win by a second.
De Groot explained that, after a fairly long first half of the season, she’d taken a short break before starting a new phase of training for the remaining winter months.
“As a competitive athlete, it’s never easy to arrive at a race ‘off form’ but one has to have faith in a bigger process and be willing to back off at some time during the year to progress at a later stage.
“These training races are just part of a bigger picture.”
De Groot said she had enjoyed the one-day format of the event as it allowed for more aggressive and exciting racing. She added it also made it easier to fit into a busy racing schedule.
With two events left in the series, De Groot said she expected things to start heating up.
“The series is generally only decided at the final event each year and this keeps it really exciting and competitive, which is great for the sport and women’s mountain biking in South Africa.
“It really becomes a numbers game when it comes down to points, results and the number of events raced,” she said. “I have no doubt it will be exciting to the finish.”
She was unable to confirm whether she would start the remaining events, which take place in Dullstroom and Kaapsehoop.
“The series is usually a goal during the year but we will need to make some calls for the remainder of the season with regards to what our objectives are and make decisions based on those.”
