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Just 11 years ago, Songezo Jim did not know how to ride a bike, and in a few months he and his team are hoping to make history at the Tour de France. Growing up in South Africa, Songezo Jim had aspirations of being a soccer player, but tragedy struck. By the age of 12, he lost both his parents and was forced to move to Cape Town to live with his aunt. It was there that fate intervened. “There’s a big race in Cape Town which is called the Cape Argus Pick ‘n Pay Cycle Tour and that day, everything closes, so you can’t go anywhere, so we just had to watch,” he said. “So I went and watched the race.” After asking one of the other patrons about the sport, he joined a local club the very next day. “I didn’t know how to ride a bike at that point so they had to teach me,” he said. “They thought I was crazy. My family, my friends – I lost friends when I started cycling. I had to make a decision, I said ‘sorry guys, I’m stopping soccer, I’m going to do cycling’ and from there they never spoke ...

Bottles full, bikes prepped and kit sorted we headed off intrepidly into the hills, thinking the Whakapapa climb would be the perfect aperitif for us before the main climb of the day. Our best laid plans were scuppered early as we rolled up to the Bruce Road to find the ski station access road closed from the Chateau onwards due to ice. The testing conditions we had dreamt of, deemed too testing for cars! All of a sudden things were looking dire, no one could tell us if the road would open later or even if the Ohakune road was suffering from the same fate. Undeterred, we headed over to see for ourselves, hoping the day wasn’t turning into just a long day driving. With no signs or gates stopping us, we decided our ascent should be ‘Pro’ style, that is one of us riding while one followed in the New Zealand Road Cyclist car. This way we would have the luxury of accessing kit, plus somewhere to retreat to if the descent became too treacherous. Liam Friary went first, suited and booted up, big ringing it for the first 6kms through the early shallow sections of the forest, only ...

Bottles full, bikes prepped and kit sorted we headed off intrepidly into the hills, thinking the Whakapapa climb would be the perfect aperitif for us before the main climb of the day. Our best laid plans were scuppered early as we rolled up to the Bruce Road to find the ski station access road closed from the Chateau onwards due to ice. The testing conditions we had dreamt of, deemed too testing for cars! All of a sudden things were looking dire, no one could tell us if the road would open later or even if the Ohakune road was suffering from the same fate. Undeterred, we headed over to see for ourselves, hoping the day wasn’t turning into just a long day driving. With no signs or gates stopping us, we decided our ascent should be ‘Pro’ style, that is one of us riding while one followed in the New Zealand Road Cyclist car. This way we would have the luxury of accessing kit, plus somewhere to retreat to if the descent became too treacherous. Liam Friary went first, suited and booted up, big ringing it for the first 6kms through the early shallow sections of the forest, only ...

Expectations for the biggest Ironman 70.3 race of the year were high for our participating professionals, but things turned out differently than planned. Michael Raelert had a good swim and after a fast transition, he got in the lead. At the 4k mark he unfortunately hit a shard of glass and ruined his tire. “The tire was slashed. I was extremely frustrated and discussed with myself if I should bring this race to the finish line at all. I was totally down, but I decided to finish.” said Michael Raelert after the race. Michael decided to finish the race, managed the bike course in 2:58:47 hours and ran the half marathon in 1:22:41 hours. Despite all the disappointment the Rostockian enjoyed the support of a great audience in Alcudia. The crowd was a huge help for Michael Raelert to finish this especially mentally tough race. The race went even worse for German Matthias Knossalla. After a solid start of the race, he had an incident with a goat at the downhill from the monastery of Lluc. He was suffering from bruises and lost some skin, finished the bike leg but wasn’t able to start the concluding half marathon. The third member was Austrian Daniel Niederreiter from Pewag racingteam. ...

The European season was really kicked off past weekend with the first Ironman 70.3 race of the year in France. Among other things, the region around Aix en Provence is famous for its excellent training conditions. Competition was tough, because pros and amateurs were already hunting for points and slots for the 70.3 World Championship in Zell am See in August. Experienced Scotsman Fraser Cartmell – who was already training in nearby Girona for a few weeks and returns to the famous training destination right after the race – has already competed in Challenge Dubai and Ironman South Africa earlier this year. Knowing, that the field was top-class, Fraser exited the water in 5th place and rode within the main group on the bike leg for much of the distance but lost contact over the final Col towards the end of the 90k loop. After holding a fairly steady run pace, he finished in 13th position, which he’s not 100 % happy with. Fraser Cartmell raced in his customized Free Sanremo Suit SS, a one piece race suit tailor-made for half and full distance Ironman races. It pairs exceptional wearing comfort with perfect aerodynamics. Pewag racingteam sent young Austrian Thomas ...