Dylan Girdlestone is annoyed at having consistently finished on the podium in races this season without once making it to the top step.
Girdlestone, 29, finished second in both the trapNET 360 and Jock Classic in July. He was second overall in the Lowveld Tour in August and also came second in the Cycle4Good criterium. He finished third in the Satellite Classic last weekend.
The officeguru racing rider, while happy with his form, is hoping to make that winning breakthrough before the season ends.
“The performance is there and I’m happy with where my form is. It’s just kind of annoying that I keep landing up second or third,” Girdlestone told In the Bunch today.
“We [officeguru racing] are trying everything to make the racing, but we just seem to get pipped on the line every time,” he said, adding that his downfall had been his acceleration in the final sprints.
“I will be working on my kick for the sprints so that when it comes down to the finish against two or three other guys I won’t be the slowest every time.”
Dylan Girdlestone (pictured) is annoyed at having consistently finished on the podium in races this season, is hoping to make that winning breakthrough before the season ends. Photo: Supplied
Girdlestone, younger brother of Keagan Girdlestone, formerly rode for the Drapac pro-Continental team in 2015 before he suffered a near career-ending crash after returning from racing overseas.
He broke his hip and it was an injury he likened to that of South African former WorldTour rider John-Lee Augustyn, who was forced to retire as a result.
“I thought my career was over when I was lying on the ground,” Girdlestone said.
“That took almost two years to heal and I actually threw in the towel. I thought I was done [with the sport].
“But I realised cycling was in my blood so I decided to just start riding again. It was just a case of watching my hip. I knew if I hit the ground again that it wouldn’t be good.”
The East London-born rider reached a turning point in his career when he came fifth at the Tour Durban last year. That was when he realised he “still had it, even with much less training than before”.
He stopped cycling again after the Race for Victory last year after feeling “sour” about the disqualification process at the event, but resumed again in March this year.
The Jock Classic, he said, was his first “goal race” after returning from his hiatus.
“I was building up for that and that’s where all the podiums started. My form is pretty close to where it was when I was riding at international level, even though I’m putting in far fewer hours than I used to.”
Girdlestone, who also works fulltime for Cycle Lab Fourways alongside other pros Bradley Potgieter and David Maree, said he first guest-rode for officeguru racing before joining them officially.
The team, which aims to harness and nurture up-and-coming under-23 riders, has essentially adopted Girdlestone as its mentor rider.
“I’ve already signed for them for 2019 so now I’m officially part of the team,” he said. “This season it was more of a verbal thing.
“We’ve got a young bunch of guys and we’ve even signed on two more guys, whose names we’ll release later in the year. I think we’ll have a really strong team next season.
“The morale in the team is good and the guys are very motivated. I definitely think we’ll get results next year,” he said, adding that they would “really like to do well” at the Amashova Durban Classic this weekend.
His teammate Ryan Harris could be the team’s trump card in the Durban race, he said, adding “if it comes down to a sprint, our money is on him”.
“I’ve seen him sprint against Nolan [Hoffman] and he is actually quicker,” Girdlestone said. “But Nolan is an old dog so he knows all the tricks.
“We’ll see what happens. I don’t want a boring race and I’m tired of waiting for things to happen. I’m looking forward to positive racing; that’s what we’re trying to achieve.
“We’re always trying to motivate the racing instead of sitting back and waiting for a sprint or for another team to do something.”
Girdlestone admitted the standard of cycling in SA was currently “down from where it was” before he went over overseas.
“The guys are still riding hard, but the number of guys doing that is sort of depleted.
“But I think the racing will start to become a lot more competitive next year versus this year and last year,” he said.
