SA TT Champs

Kevin Evans, pic Ronelle Rust, Zoon Cronje

So my first national road title, and here’s a small story about it that know one knows.
I had originally put down the National Time Trial Championships as one of my goals for 2010 as it is a discipline I believed I could win. Problem with Time Trials when done properly, is besides the physical power required to do well in the event, your setup and equipment is crucial and can win or a lose a medal. So we have got sponsors onboard our team now that really push the envelope in providing us with world class equipment. We received most of our equipment about three weeks prior to the event, however, Carol Austin Activeworx coach was adamant that the frame for myself was not the correct size. Many e-mails and phone calls to sponsors in Belgium were flying around and with less than a week to go, despite myself still preparing for the race, I had no machine.
Then after much persuading and “fighting”, Eddy Merckx’s son in law personally flew in the frame for me, which they borrowed from Team Quickstep as they were the only team in the world with a frame in my size, dropped it off and flew out. Activeworx then worked overtime to have the frame built and ready for me to do a professional setup once I landed in Johannesburg on Tuesday midday. 2hrs later we were happy and on our way out to Klerksdorp.
I arrived and immediately headed out on the bike, 6pm, in the pouring rain and tried to find the course, which turned into a whole other story. But the bike felt good and we would have to wait and see.
We had great conditions on the day and the heat and humid weather helped me adjust to the altitude without too many problems. Once under way, I was fortunate enough to have the top of the range Sram SRM which proved invaluable to pacing myself for the first 20km of the race, allowing me to save enough energy to really wind up the final 5km.
At the end, it was unclear as to who had won, but I had timed myself and the two riders that I thought would be the quickest, and unofficially I knew I had it!
What a feeling! My first national road jersey and the whole team, staff and everyone behind the scenes deserves a big piece of that jersey too! Thank you.

Next race, Road and Time Trial Championships in Klerksdorp, two very big goals for our team. Till then, cheers.
Kevin Evans



Provisional results:
1st Kevin Evans (MTN/Energade) 48min30sec 47.5km/hr
2nd James Perry (EMG)
3rd Jaco Venter (MTN/Energade)