Here is an update from Pierre Carter, one of our Staminade athletes that was selected as the only South African athlete to take part in one of the world's toughest adventure races, The RedBull X-Alps 2013...

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The X berg came about as part of my training for the Red Bull X – Alps and together with Linda and Alistair we came up with a challenge across the Drakensberg from north to south.

The Red Bull X Alps is a race down the spine of the Alps starting in Salzburg Austria on the 7^th of July, and ending in Monaco on the Med, covering around a 1000km as the crow flies.  One can follow it Live 24/7 on www.redbullxalps.com.

The X Berg starts at the “ Windmill (Olivier’s pass) and ending at Underberg country club, going via a couple of turn points Namely the Mighty Sentinel Guarding the way North to the sandstone cliffs of Kwamiya and onto Cathedral peak, then the Matterhorn above Champagne Castle hotel and  on to the finish in Underberg, were one inevitably has to negotiate or go round Giants Castle, before descending into Luteni and onwards to Underberg giving you a 180km of a lot of up and down!

You can’t compare the Red bull X Alps with the X berg, but the latter still carries a big punch! Despite the distance! The 180 km could be achieved in one great flying day during the X Alps, except the berg as a flying site does not deliver these sort of days, if you are very luck you may get 50 km out of a day, and these will be few and far between.  Thus making for good tactical, rout finding, walk and fly, hike high, land high and try stay that way till sundown and getting back into the same position at sunrise, for the following day.

The race its self has a twist, as you don’t merely race against your fellow pilots, but also race against different disciplines, in this race we had Mountain bikers, Road Bikers, and adventure racers. 

Getting the formulas right to make it an “ equal” race proved difficult, and as predicted with no good flying days due to a very strong inversion that lasted for 2 days, the road cyclists won by miles. : )

We now have a better idea of what can and cant be done in trying to cover the berg, and what to do as well as what not to.

The next race will prove to be even more exciting and a lot tougher for the cyclists making sure that all disciplines have a chance to get to Underberg.

I must say the race took me past some amazing and beautiful spots in the berg, areas I had never seen or even new existed and showed me a side of the berg and its people, living in places you would not expect to find any one!

The feed back we had from the other 28 participants was positive and they all loved the idea and the concept, we did have a problem with the tracking, were friends and family found it difficult to follow and with the berg being a bit remote not all the data from the trackers got out to the website to show who was were. We will be working on this and have it rectified for 2014.

The final score board came out as follows:

.                 1  Zamperinis Team - cycling road  - 360 km - 48 hrs. – Goal

.                 2  X Berg Team  - cycling road  - 360 km - 36 hrs. - Goal

.                 3  Bad Medicine Team - mountain biking - Giants Castle  - 30 km short of Goal.

.                 4   Skirling Spiders Team – Mountain biking – Injasuthi / White mountain – 55km short of Goal

.                 5  Pierre Carter – paragliding - Injasuthi valley – 70 km short of Goal

.                 6  Fly Fish – paragliding – Cathedral valley – 110km short of Goal

.                 8   Milk Stout Team - Running / adventure racing – Ndedema gorge – 90km short of Goal

.                 9   Go Fast  - paragliding - TP 2 – 140km short of Goal.

All in all it was a fantastic experience and a great turn out at such short notice. And with all the Red bull consumed they surely will fly through the rout next time round.

We hope to see all back and more for 2014

Cheers from the X Berg Team

For a second year in a row, Team Muscle Science athlete Johan "Bossie" Boshoff took home the overall title after winning his category; Senior Mens Class up to 90kg. Muscle Evolution magazine was there, so be sure to look out for more in the new upcoming issue.


Well done BOSSIE!
Team Muscle Science

David Maree secured Tasol GT a podium finish at the Le Coq Sportif Cycle Tour outside Rustenburg this week as the 5 stage race came to a end yesterday after the final 78km stage. The team was again in the thick of the action on the stage as Richard Baxter narrowly missed out on a chance to secure a major win for himself when he was beaten on the line by MTN Qhubeka’s Calvin Beneke.

Johann Rabie (Bonitas) claimed overall honors with MTN Qhubeka’s Jacques janse van Rensburg edging out Maree by a mere 7 seconds after the 5 days of racing.

The final stage was controlled mostly by Rabie’s Bonitas teammates when 3 riders broke away early in the stage as none of Richard Baxter, Clint Hendricks (both Tasol GT) and Calvin Beneke (MTN Qhubeka)  posed a serious threat to the yellow jersey.

Hendricks had an unfortunate puncture and his team car was stuck behind the main bunch and couldn’t get back to the break away. Calvin Beneke, son of former Rapport tour winner Gary Beneke, then outsprinted Baxter to take the final stage for Team MTN Qhubeka.

Maree who is fast becoming the rider he once was in the junior ranks also claimed the KOM Mountains competition and finished 2nd in the Points Competiton. The team will walk away from the tour with some much needed confidance ahead of it US campaign where the deprt on the 4th July for 3 week and 17 races.

The Tour was considered a great success and much needed event on South Africa’s professional road racing circuit and will hopefully grow into the premier cycling tour in SA.

For full results, visit tasolgt.co.za 

RACE REPORT:

David Maree bounced back after a dissapointing Tour de Freestate two weeks ago to win the overall competiton and two stages at the 2012 edition of the PPC Kremetart Classic. The 175km event, split up into 4 stages saw top SA teams Europecar SA, Tasol-GT and Team Bonitas match up in a ding dong battle over 4 short, fast and hard stages.

Stage 1 – 53km

The most challenging part of the stage included a 8km climb which saw 4 riders escape. Maree along with teammate James Perry rode away with Hanco Kachelloffer and Jason Bakke of Team Bonitas. Willie Smith (Toyota CSA) managed to bridge the gap and make the 5-man decisive winning break. Kachelloffer opened up the sprint but it was Maree who took top honours with Willie Smith coming in 2nd and Kacheloffer 3rd.

Stage 2 – 48km

A relatively flat stage saw Tasol GT commit to team sprinter Nolan Hoffman at the same time as defending the overall lead of Maree. The team of Richard Baxter, William Bush, Myles van Musschenbroek along with Perry and Maree controlled the race perfectly for the star sprinter. With 5km remaining the lead bunch started to splinter in the strong gutter winds and the relentless attacks from Team Bonitas. But in the end it was Hoffman who bagged the teams 2nd win after the sterling job done by his team with Bonitas Johan Rabie in 2nd and Maree close to the action defending his overall lead by finishing 3rd.

Stage 3 – 52km

Tasol GT riders knew that  stage 3 would be the decisive stage and as soon as the race got started the teams domestique s were sent straight to the front to control the race. Team Bonitas knew they had to try break up the team to make Maree lose time to Kachelhoffer but 40km into the stage they had yet to penetrate a much stronger looking outfit than two weeks prior at the Tour de Freestate.  With just over 10km to go a sizable group went clear containing most of the strong riders. The finish of stage 3 was up a steep 1km climb. Maree had pointed out the day before that this was the stage he wanted to win because the sprint suited him perfectly. With 1km to go it was the ever working Perry setting it up for Maree.  With 400m to go Smith (Toyota) opened up the sprint but it was Maree who powered away to win comfortably over Willie Smit and Kachelhoffer in 3rd.

Stage 4 – 22km

The 4th and final stage was a short 22km stage that featured one major obstacle, a 4km climb just before the finish.  With just over 1km from the top Team Bonitas went on the attack with Johan Rabie and Jason Bakke. Richard Baxter took up the work of closing the gap a bit for Maree who with 500m from the top attacked across the gap to the two Bonitas riders with Hanco Kachelhoffer on his wheel.  Maree managed to claim the King of the Mountain prime but had to ensure the help from teammates Baxter and Perry came from behind whom eventually rejoined the four leaders. With the pace being set by Perry and Baxter with 4km to go there would be no more attacks and it would all come down to another small group sprint. With about  400m to go Maree was leading it out for a sprint for Hoffman but an early attack at 300m saw Kachelhoffer open a gap on the group. Maree followed but could not catch Kachelhoffer in the final and finished 3rd with Julius Corbet finishing the stage in 2nd.

Overall

A successful day for the Tasol GT team winning 3 from 4 stages and claiming the overall title. Another good performance from Maree as he begins to step up with some credible race victories. Maree was delighted with his second victory of the season and had nothing but praise for his teamamtes and their efforts in setting him up for the win.

“The team rode an amazing race today and every rider gave 110%. Of all the riders in the race, I probably had the easiest ride due to the work my team did for me today. We have allot of young guys on this team but with the experience of Perry and Baxter looking after you they make it easy for the young guys to learn and understand. We really needed this victory as a unit” said Maree

Congratulations to Team Muscle Science athlete Bismarck Du Plessis who was selected on Saturday as part of the 2012 Springbok Ruby squad for the Castle Incoming Tour against England.

Good luck to Bismarck and the rest of the Springbok team which includes; Springbok squad: Willem Alberts, Bjorn Basson, Marcell Coetzee, Keegan Daniel, Jean de Villiers, Bismarck du Plessis, Jannie du Plessis, JJ Engelbrecht, Eben Etzebeth, Bryan Habana, Francois Hougaard, Elton Jantjies, Ryan Kankowski, Zane Kirchner, Juandré Kruger, Werner Kruger, Patrick Lambie, Tendai Mtawarira, Lwazi Mvovo, Wynand Olivier, Coenie Oosthuizen, Ruan Pienaar, JP Pietersen, Jacques Potgieter, Chiliboy Ralepelle, Pierre Spies, Frans Steyn, Morné Steyn, Adriaan Strauss, Flip van der Merwe, Franco van der Merwe, Jano Vermaak. 

Check out some behind the scenes photos of Team Muscle Science athlete Johan "Bossie" Boshoff, shooting for Muscle Evolution Magazine!

For more the full album visit our Facebook Fan Page

Congratulations to Team MS sponsored athlete Nolan Hoffman from the Tasol-Gt cycling team on placing second at this weekends' 116km Dischem Ride for Sight Classic

To read the full race report, please click here

Sharks and Springbok rugby star Bismarck du Plessis has sealed a sponsorship deal with leading nutrition brand Muscle Science.  As a professional player, he has the advantage of personal guidance from many professionals specializing in sports nutrition, but confesses that it is still not always easy to get exactly what he needs from his diet.

“I am very careful about what I eat,” said Bismarck. “I’m a farm boy and I love healthy, wholesome home-made food, but it is not always possible to eat the perfect sports diet, especially when the team is travelling.”

Renowned for his strength and power, Bismarck knows that nutrition is plays a big role in the maintenance of his physical aspects of his game, and points out that sports supplements are an efficient way to meet his nutritional needs.  “But obviously I can’t take any risks, so my first priority was to find a top quality sports supplement I knew I could trust to be pure.  Muscle Science was the natural fit.”

“Bismarck epitomizes power, strength and commitment,” commented Ian Wright, Muscle Science brand manager.  “Muscle Science is delighted to be associated with this champion of South African rugby.  Not only is he a remarkable rugby player, he is a true role model.

Strenuous exercise places significant demands on the human body, and good nutrition helps the body to adjust to these demands.  And Muscle Science can make the difference between optimum nutrition and being below par.  Muscle Science is the leading brand in South African sports nutrition, and has sponsored the Sharks Academy for several years.  Sponsoring Bismarck is the natural extension of our support for South African rugby, and is the perfect synergy of values and quality.”

See more photos on our Facebook fan page

Team MS Professional fitness model Marco Pietrowski burst back into the limelight on 18 September at the Mr and Miss SA Fitness Pageant with a second place finish in the Male Model Plus division. The contest saw 150 athletes in 11 divisions drive a crowd of 1700 spectators wild with their flawless physiques and incredible stage presence.

 

With the IFBBSA Overall title now his, Muscle Science sponsored athlete Johan Boshoff is one step closer to muscling in on international glory at the 2010 IFBB World Championships.