Maties Cyclists ready to defend titles : 2016-07-03
The Maties Cycling team is the defending USSA champion and according to Max Sullivan the team is not going with anything less in mind to Potchefstroom for the 2017 USSA event.
“I think the team is pretty confident heading into the competition, as we know we have a good support structure and a solid eightman-team. We also have four riders that are more than capable of winning the yellow jersey, so we have a good set of cards in hand. The goal is definitely to defend our title, winning the team competition and the yellow jersey,” said Max Sullivan.
“We would also like to win all of the stages and jerseys, however will sacrifice these if need be. We also stand a good chance in the mountain bike race. Our competitors often see us as a full time well drilled team; we however haven’t had a ride together at all. We have however all raced sufficiently this year and the team gels well together on and off the bike in Stellenbosch. We expect the altitude to make things a bit harder, and also not knowing the finishes is a challenge. I’m confident that the team and support staff will get all of the controllable factors in order, the rest we take as it comes. It’s great to have the support of Maties HP.”
The Maties women were supposed to be team of three, but due to unforeseen circumstances only two riders will make up the team. “We both riders are actually mountain bikers with not much experience on the road. However we have trained hard together, getting lots of advise and help from our men’s team to try grasp a better understanding of how the road tactics work. We are confident we will manage with the resources and knowledge we now have,” said Nicky Gillomee.
Giliomee is the defending mountain bike champion.
- Cycling and Mountainbiking are part of the Maties Sport High Performance Programme.