Danielle Strydom’s victory in the Kgaswane MTB Race in Rustenburg at the weekend underscored her technical abilities and provided a boost to her confidence.
The 20-year-old completed the 50km event in 2:46:07, beating Caitlin Thompson and Michaele Cooper into second and third place respectively.
“It’s a great confidence booster and being the course it is, it also gives me a great boost for my technical abilities.
“It’s a toughie, so you feel like a tough cookie afterwards too.”
Danielle Strydom (second from left) won the Kgaswane MTB Race in Rustenburg at the weekend. Photo: Supplied
The Potchefstroom local, who won the 30km race two years ago, said her objective was to use the race as a yardstick to gauge her fitness levels.
“I wanted to find out which areas I needed to work on as well as to test my technical skills.”
Strydom said from the outset she tried to stay with the leading bunch and found she was the only woman to do so.
“After they attacked and broke away on the first major climb, which was around 3km in, I rode at my own pace throughout the whole race.
“I tried to catch a few guys up front to keep my momentum and push all the way to the finish.”
She added that Thompson had caught her by surprise and she would be looking out for her in the future.
“My biggest competition though was Michaele, who has been racing for a while.”
Next up for Strydom is the Magoeba Trek, a three-day mountain-bike race in Limpopo from August 23 to 25, that she will ride solo.
