TimW

Is that official? Do you know on what basis did James Reid miss out? Good for Phil and Alan, but in my mind sad for James.

Yes ... it is two. I am sure we have been helped by Rourke -- that 9th from 2015 certainly contains some of his points I am sure.

From the official UCI / IOC document ... UCI Olympic qualification ranking NOCs ranked 1 to 5: 3 (15 total) NOCs ranked 6 to 13: 2 (16) NOCs ranked 14 to 23 1 (10) Subtotal: 41 (plus 8 from continental qualifications not in UCI rankings-- 2 from each continent) Women NOCs ranked 1 to 8: 2 (16) NOCs ranked 9 to 17: 1 (9) Subtotal: 25 (plus 4 -- but not SA who turned this option down) The UCI Olympic Qualification Ranking is a combination of the UCI ranking by nation Cross-country as of 25 May 2015 and 25 May 2016. The UCI ranking by nation of 25 May 2015 is based on results from 25 May 2014 to 24 May 2015. The UCI ranking by nation of 25 May 2016 is based on results from 25 May 2015 to 24 May 2016. The UCI ranking by nation is calculated by summing the points of the three (3) best placed riders from each NOC in the UCI Individual Ranking, Olympic format. NOCs with only one (1) or two (2) riders will also be included in the UCI ranking by nations. Tied NOCs have their relative positions determined by the place of their best rider on the individual ranking. I think it is safe to say we have two men qualified as the 12th best nation. Changed to two qualified!

But spare a thought for the Swiss riders ... they have three spots, but Florian Vogel, who is ranked 11th in the world, could miss out because Schurter, M Fluckiger and Giger are all ranked above him ... or at least one of these four will miss out depending on their selection criteria. On their day any one (or two or three) have the potential to get a medal. Swiss have six guys in the top 20.

I think (and I stand to be corrected on this) you are looking at the rankings for the past year (ie May 2015 to May 2016) and not the combined ranking over the past two years which is used for final qualification. The SA men were ranked 9th at May 2015 and then 16th for the past year, so our combined ranking is 12th once we combine the two sets of points (we were 11th before the update). See "Total Result" on the dropdown. Can anybody confirm I am correct on that ... I am pretty sure that is the case.

That is not correct ... Men 11th (two at Rio) -- I would suspect James Reid, Philip Buys or Alan Hatherly (Philip may fall foul of Sascoc's desire to build for the future but that is pure speculation on my part and unlikely) Women 21st (none) -- but women won African champs so qualify one, but Sascoc has turned that position down and it has gone to Namibia (I think) Of course this is all presuming Sascoc accept the places but I cannot see why they would not and I think they have an agreement with CSA signed and sealed -- so expect two men MTB riders.

With regards to Rio: SA qualifed two men but the women (and I include all SA women, not only those hoping to be in the team) simply never got enough UCI points and so did not qualify (they had one spot via African Champs but Sascoc's ruling -- as agreed by CSA -- is that African qualification would not count. This is the same reason the men's and women's hockey teams will not be in Rio, they both qualified as African champs but that is not good enough for Sascoc). Mariske was injured which was a huge blow as she is a regular competitor at World Cups where loads of points are available. But Candice Neethling and Bianca Haw did not (as far as I know) compete overseas at all over the past two years. I have to wonder if the decision by Sascoc did not play a part in de-motivating them? Cherie Vale picked a few points but one person will always struggle unless she is top and there are simply not enough points available from local events (and rightly so I believe -- riders must compete overseas). This team is for World Champs and I believe the criteria are too strict if no women are able / prepared to qualify (either way it indicates a problem in my mind). The MTB Marathon team is made up of only one rider, Robyn de Groot with ALL the men also failing to meet the selection criteria. Again, I believe there must be a problem with the criteria if nobody is able / prepared to qualify. In my humble opinion the best way to encourage sportsmen is to give them a goal. How can you develop a sport if the selection criteria is so tough nobody wants to or is able to qualify. A development rider will see no MTB teams being selected and look to the road or another sport, an elite rider will do the same or race the Epic and plan other events. I am sure CSA has a strategy but it is my belief that it is maybe not working.

As far as I know (was told by somebody very definitely in the know) DG DID assist Saids with their investigations after his conviction. I would go as far as to say a couple of later convictions were in part due to his help. Saids may not be perfect, but the bleating and whining from a couple of convicted dopers about how unfair Saids is just proves they must be doing something right !!

This weekend's race was organised by KZN MTB and as far as I understand the rules they are bound to follow CSA and thus ICU regulations which means that once a doper has served his sentence he is able to race. Basically like a thief who served his sentence, he should be considered a rehabilitated member of society. The difference with joBerg2C, Sani, Hill2Hill and others who do not accept "former" dopers is that they are individual business entities and thus have the right to (within reason) accept and refuse entries as they see fit. I think Epic is subtly different in that they will accept entries from before the ruling (their policy is that only dopers caught after the date of their change in rules are banned).

I have ridden (well, ridden and walked the odd place) twice and am planning a third ride in a couple of weeks, but I am stopping training now so hopefully i will not be fit enough and have an excuse not to go. Start in Underberg if you want a good warm-up or better at Sani Pass Hotel. Good option is to spend the night at Sani Top or another cheaper backpackers lodge just inland, Sani Stone Lodge, which is about five kms further. About 5-10km further is another steep climb, Black Mountain, with a fantastic dirt road descent over the other side. Long steep climb and then about 15km of sweeping, fast descending -- great fun. Sani is a great challenge and a very good workout, but what we have done in the past is go further into Lesotho and made a great weekend of riding. An option would be to do Sani Pass on a Friday, then on Saturday Black Mountain to Molumong Lodge (about 40-50km depending on route and how much offroad and how much district-type road you want to do), and back over Black Mountain and down Sani pass on Sunday. Last day is long but lots of descending so a great workout at altitude but not impossible. Here is a Sani Pass comparison to some Cape Town climbs, an Epic day from the early years and some Tour de France climbs. Mont Ventoux v The Mast v Sani.pdf

EuroSteel Drak Descent on January 23 & 24 ... http://www.drakensberg.org/event/euro-steel-drak-descent/

BRENDON Davids made sure there was no repeat of his disappointment from two years ago when he won the 10 Anniversary Sunday Tribune Jeep Hill 2 Hill in convincing fashion on Sunday. The talented Kargo Pro Team rider was cruelly beaten into third position in a three-way sprint for the title after 100km of intense racing in 2013, but on Sunday made sure there was no chance of a repeat heartbreak when he broke away with 30km to go and held on to beat Andrew Hill by two minutes. However his joy meant a déjà vu disappointment for runner-up Hill who fell short by a narrow margin for the second year in a row, with Davids securing victory in virtually identical fashion to the way in which James Reid clinched the title last year. Last year Reid made the decisive race-winning 31kms from the finish, just before the dreaded Hill ‘n Dale climb, this year Hill was with his main rival as they hit the foot of the climb with 30km to go but as the crested the steep ascent he was 25 seconds off the pace and drifted further back for the rest of the race. Leeroy Emslie was also gapped on the climb and ended third, holding of Tyrone White who fought back to fourth after a puncture stopped his challenge for the win when he was in the lead group. Derrin Smith claimed fifth by overtaking the up and coming Sthembiso Masango near the finish after the latter had ridden himself into contention podium place with a powerful second-half surge. In perfect cool, dry and windless conditions Jeannie Dreyer used the fitness she has picked up on two mammoth rides, a ten-repeat ride up and down Sani Pass in July and a 900km race in the United States in August, to claim her second women’s title. The 2013 Champion claimed the Queen of the Hill prize 25km into the race and was never challenged as she steadily rode away from the rest of the female competitors. Hayley Smith and Desiree Verwey fought a race-long battle for second, seven minutes back from Dreyer, with the South Coast youngster eventually beating her North Coast rival by just over a minute. On Saturday, in the 45km race, Julian Jessop, fresh from his 14th place at the junior World Championships last weekend, decimated the men's field, while Frankie du Toit, also just returned from the World Champs in Andorra, prevailed in a tight women's event. Jessop broke away from Jedson Tooms about ten kilometres into the race from Cato Ridge to Shongweni and then rode a solo time-trial to a solid three-minute win, despite a fall near the finish. In the women's race, Du Toit had to work hard over the first 20 kilometres before finally getting a small gap over 15-year-old Tiffany Keep which she was able to slowly grow over the hills in the final 20 kilometres two eventually win by just over two minutes. 100km results: 1 Brendon Davids 3.37.44, 2 Andrew Hill 3.39.46, 3 Leeroy Emslie 3.42.28, 4 Tyronne White 3.43.00, 5 Derrin Smith 3.47.06, 6 Sthembiso Masango 3.47.06, 7 Ryan Piercey 3.49.17, 8 Jarred Higgins 3.50.23, 9 Matthew Wilkinson 3.50.54, Stuart Marais 3.51.59. Women: 1 Jeannie Dreyer 4.23.15, 2 Hayley Smith 4.29.51, 3 Desiree Verwey 4.31.26, 4 Brenda Potts, 4.40.16, 5 Sarah van Heerden 4.43.45

Old figures, but will give an idea of how many is spent in a team. http://inrng.com/medias/images/teamskyaccounts2.jpg

If his date of birth is on the Garmin the race organisers will be able to give you a list of people (narrows the list down to about 1/365th of the field) ... you can maybe narrow that list down further by checking his start time of the last ride off the Garmin to see if it co-incides with a start batch. You should have only a few people who it could be ... I did all that once after we had a Garmin handed in after a race. Contacted the guy and he seemed a bit pissed off -- he had already contacted his insurance and was contemplating an upgrade.

You may want to get hold of Rohan Surridge rohan@detourtrails.co.za He has ridden the entire Dragon's Spine to Cape Town and I am sure would help you.