South Africa’s Mariske Strauss will be targeting a top-20 finish when she competes in the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Albstadt, Germany, this weekend.
Strauss said she hoped to improve on her result from the Stellenbosch world cup event in March, where she placed 28th overall.
“I am not too sure what to expect. I have been sick recently, but I am aiming to finish in the top-20 to improve on the first world cup,” she said.
“It has been up and down [this year], but I am looking forward to putting in some watts.”
Mariske Strauss will be targeting a top-20 finish when she competes in the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Albstadt, Germany, this weekend. Photo: BOOGS Photography/Andrew Mc Fadden
Strauss, who recently won the second SA MTB XCO Series event in Pietermaritzburg, expects a lot of climbing on the course.
“I have not been on the course yet; it has been pouring with rain so it is probably very muddy.
“I usually love the climbs and the singletrack is normally straight forward, which I usually have a lot of fun on.
“I am looking forward to hitting the course very hard and see what happens.”
She had been in a good mental space despite having been ill over the last month, Strauss added.
“I have been really focused again. I have been putting in a lot of training to get myself into a good space so everything seems to be ticking over.
“Now it is just up to me to get on the race line and do my best.”
She aims to gain ascendancy on the first lap. “I want to get the opportunity to actually race the race instead of just fighting traffic.
“I will hopefully improve on my ranking in the short track on Friday [qualifier].
“My focus would be to first actually get into the race. That is a part of world cup racing – there are many riders on the start line.
“Then I will just have to go from strength to strength.”
