Candice Lill reached new heights in mountain-biking when she clinched the South African MTB XCO Cup Series title following the fourth and final event at Mankele in Mbombela on June 16.
Lill, primarily a marathon rider, has made a lot of progress in cross-country racing since the beginning of last year and said the title was not a goal she had set for herself at the start of this year.
However, the former Team dormakaba SA rider impressed when she finished second among an international contingent of riders in the first event at Coetzenburg in February.
She followed that up with another second place at the Thaba Trails in KwaZulu-Natal in March, a further second at Cascades, KwaZulu-Natal, in May, before winning the Mankele event last month.
Candice Lill reached new heights in mountain-biking when she clinched the South African MTB XCO Cup Series title following the fourth and final event at Mankele in Mbombela last month. Photo: Milan de Beer Photography
Rivalled by Mariske Strauss throughout the series, Lill accumulated a total of 200 points, 30 more than Strauss.
“The title wasn’t something I had set out to achieve at the beginning of the year,” she told In the Bunch today. “I just wanted to get back into cross-country racing, while finding enjoyment in it again.
“It’s been awesome to challenge myself on a new level. The quality of the South African courses has improved so I was forced to improve on my skills.
“I approached each event with more confidence as the season wore on and that excited me.
“The series win was a bonus but I’m mostly happy about my personal growth,” she added.
Lill enjoyed the Cascades course the most but said “each event had its own appeal, which was great because we had a diverse array of obstacles and terrain to challenge ourselves on”.
The SA national cross-country championship took place at the Happy Valley Conservancy in Bloemfontein last weekend, where Lill laboured through a mechanical to finish second behind Strauss.
She said she enjoyed the “rocky and rough” course in Bloemfontein.
“Most of the courses had a share of everything that could test the strengths of different riders.
“I enjoy rocky and rough riding, possibly because my Cannondale Scalpel easily ploughs through that type of terrain.
“I like it when a course is physically challenging and Happy Valley Conservancy did that for me.”
Although she consistently positioned well throughout the various events, Lill, who won the elite women’s title with German Helen Grobert at the Tankwa Trek in February, felt her form had been “up and down” this season.
“This was probably because I also tried to fit in some longer stage-racing, which didn’t help with specific cross-country speed and explosive power,” she said.
“I noticed my improvement in the last two events – in Mankele and Happy Valley – when I focused on a proper cross-country build-up.
“You need to have the speed, power and freshness in your legs before a cross-country event, then you will come out firing.”
She was impressed with the competition throughout the cross-country series and national championship, Lill said.
“It was great to see more women lining up on the start line of cross-country events. It is a fun discipline and I encourage more women to not be scared and get involved.
“Although there were mainly only five to six of us [elite women] at the races, all of them are top class who all had a realistic chance of winning any race. That made it really exciting.”
Lill said she would like to focus more on cross-country racing with the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, in mind.
“I would like to give it a go at the Olympics again,” she said. “But the UCI points system, which determines starting positions, can make it difficult to climb the ladder from the bottom.
“In tough economic times I will also need a solid support structure and financial investment.
“If you are chosen to represent your country at the world championships the cost is on you as our national federation [Cycling South Africa] is bankrupt.
“If I manage to get the support I need to race in cross-country races I will be there in a flash,” she added.
