I love races close to home, you can sleep in your own bed and cycle to the start, nothing better than that! So also no need to pack the car, even though we had to at least take the car out from the garage today since Craig was coming with me as support.

It was time for the Cape Town Cycle Tour MTB challenge which for the second consecutive year was held at the Le Bonheur wine farm outside of Stellenbosch. I left for the 7am start together with Waylon and Darren when it was still dark.

It was a fast start and I lost Ariane in the sand amongst all the people but as soon as it settled a bit I could see her and catch up with her. When we came in to a single track I had a guy in front of me who left a gap to Ariane so I had to chase again. We were together until 20 kilometers when she dropped me on a steep climb which led in to a long single track section. I saw her for a bit longer but eventually she was gone. At the first WP the gap was only 30 seconds but by the second it had grew to 2,5 minutes and I lost the fighting spirit a bit after that and by the finish it was 5 minutes.

It was a great race, lots of newly cut single tracks which also made it very loose and scetchy, a challenge!

I must see it positively, two years ago i was 4th in this race, last year I was 3rd and now 2nd, so I guess that means that I must come back next year and see if the climb up the ladder can continue;)

What is also nice at races at home is the support! Thank you Henrik, Marie and Cornelia for taking the time to come out and ”heja” Swedish cheering is the best at races here:-) A huge thank you to Craig for the support during the day, the best soigneur in the world!! And of course thanks Jo for always making me feel like a star;)

Now it is time for some rest and of course some training to make the days go fast util Thursday when mom and dad comes to visit! It will be great to see them, it was in the end of August last time!

Great support from Jo!

The podium with Carmen, Ariane and I