Despite an ongoing battle with a mysterious illness, Declan Sidey plans to be competitive when he takes to the start line at the Stellenbosch MTB Challenge on Sunday.
Over the last month Sidey, who rides for Mad Mac p/b häzz, has not “really trained”. He has only taken part in the races he has committed to for his sponsors.
Despite an ongoing battle with a mysterious illness, Declan Sidey plans to be competitive when he takes to the start line at the Stellenbosch MTB Challenge on Sunday. Photo: Stefano Maiorana
This, he said, was due to a form of physical depletion he was suffering from for which the cause had not yet been determined.
“I’ve already had three sets of blood tests and [tests for] viruses such as Epstein-Barr and Coxsackie have both come back negative,” Sidey told In the Bunch today.
“We are struggling to determine what the problem is. I did a VO2 Max test (oxygen consumption and muscle efficiency) yesterday and I am 10 to 15 per cent down from what I was, and that wasn’t even when I was going well.
“We still have no definitive answer which is very frustrating,” he said.
Sidey described his state as “over-training syndrome”, his reason for not having trained for a month.
Despite this, he managed to win the Ngwenya Glass MTB Challenge in Swaziland on July 6 and the JBay Wind Farm MTB Classic on July 14.
He now wanted to have a “crack” at the Stellenbosch race on Sunday and “see what happens”, Sidey said.
“My goal is still to win – that is always the goal,” he said. “It’s quite a big race and it will be great to get a hat-trick of wins.
“I have no clue how my body will react. I wouldn’t say I am confident at all. Naturally I want to do well but I’m not sure how I will do physically.
“The fitness isn’t great, but I will still try and do my job and do my best.”
Sidey, who hails from Stellenbosch, expects a vastly changed route from previous years.
“It will be new to everyone. It is super short as well, only about 50km. I think the race will be full gas and whoever doesn’t blow will probably win.”
He expects Erik Kleinhans and recently-crowned national marathon champion Gert Heyns to take part and pose a threat.
However, he also has his eye on HB Kruger, a friend of his. “I have heaps of respect for him, both as an athlete and a person.
“He could be the one to beat,” Sidey added.
