Grant Daly said he felt significantly stronger as he geared up to defend his Hayterdale Classic title in Addo this weekend.
The 20-year-old, who finished last year’s 65km route in a time of 3:06:52 and beat Bruce Campbell and Joaquim Carneiro respectively to the line, said he would concentrate on pacing himself correctly on Sunday.
“I’ll make sure not to overdo it up the pass, which can be one of those climbs that either make or break you. Once you have a good pace, you can hopefully stick with the front guys.”
Port Elizabeth local Grant Daly is gearing up towards defending his Hayterdale Classic title in Addo this weekend. Photo: Jetline Action Photo
He felt last year’s race, which he entered as more of a fun event, went very well. “I went as hard as I could, eventually ended up with Bruce and managed to ride away from him in the first bit of singletrack to keep it there for the rest of the race.”
Daly, who won the Cockscomb Classic in April, said the new singletrack featured in this year’s route would be interesting and require good technical skill.
“As long as I can keep myself on the bike and wheels on the ground then everything should go to plan. Also, if I have no crashes and technicals then everything will be perfect.”
The Port Elizabeth local added that it would all depend on how he felt on the day. He would assess the overall pace and then adapt depending on how hard the other riders were pushing.
“I feel if I just pace myself I can always stay with the front guys. If the legs aren’t there though then the climbs can be difficult.
“Fortunately there is a lot of singletrack, which I’m good at with my technical skills. If you haven’t been training for it then you’re going to be left behind.”
Daly added that the course included quite a bit of flat gravel road on which he also felt strong.
He foresaw the climbing as the biggest challenge. “If someone’s a bit stronger than you on the climbs they can really make you hurt in the beginning, which is not very good.
“I’ll see how hard they go out and if I can hold on for as long as possible. [I’ll] then try to catch up to them on the singletrack and gravel roads if they drop me.”
Daly, who is gearing up towards next year’s Attakwas mountain bike challenge, felt excited at the prospect of competing with Marco Joubert.
“I haven’t raced against him in a long time, so it will be interesting. We’ll just have to see how it goes on the day.”
