Jennie Stenerhag is unsure of her form as she heads into the Race2Nowhere one-day mountain-bike challenge at McGregor tomorrow.
Stenerhag said she had just started training after a three-week lay-off.
“Then I picked up a slight back injury last week. I pulled a muscle in a training ride,” she said.
“I have struggled a bit with that this week, but I hope it will be good enough to ride.
“I don’t have high expectations. My form isn’t at its best.”
Wines2Whales and Cape Epic champ, Jennie Stenerhag, is unsure of her form leading into Race2Nowhere tomorrow. Photo: Supplied
The Wines2Whales champion indicated her lack of form was the result of her strategic preparations for next year’s Cape Epic.
“I haven’t ridden intensively since Wines2Whales,” said Stenerhag, who has won the Somerset West stage race title for three consecutive years.
“I’m not supposed to be in form now. If you’re in form at this time of the year and Epic is your goal, you’re not going to do well.
“Fitness-wise, I’m more or less where I want to be,” the Swedish-born South African resident added.
Racing for Meerendal CBC, Stenerhag and her partner, Esther Süss, won the overall Cape Epic title this year.
Tomorrow’s Race2Nowhere is part of her plans to prepare for next year’s Cape Epic, which is scheduled to start on 18 March.
“I want to see the route, which is stage one of the Cape Epic. I don’t know much about those trails and I would like to know what’s coming.
“In the past I’ve done a few races in that area, it’s very dry and quite rough; but I don’t know too much about what’s been set out for the Epic.
“I hope there will be a lot of single track,” she added.
Ariane Lüthi, who was fourth in this year’s Cape Epic, is also set to race at McGregor tomorrow. “She’ll be my toughest competition, without doubt,” Stenerhag said.
Tomorrow’s 112km race, with a 2650m ascent, will start and finish at the McGregor Winery.
