After the opening leg of the SA Cross Country Cup mountain biking series in Stellenbosch at the beginning of February, cycling guru Jeroen Swart fired off a tweet “WHY IS THIS MAN NOT SIGNED BY A TOP TEAM?????”
Below his plaintive, all-capitals “shout” was a picture of KZN rider Stuart Marais wearing a plain black riding shirt and shorts. The 29-year-old Howick resident had just finished 11th overall and fifth South Africa in a field packed with international stars, including runaway world number one, Nino Schurter.
Photo:Gavin Ryan / QuickPix
Marais’ black kit, with no sponsor’s branding or logos, stood out in glaring contrast to the brightly-coloured riding garments of his rivals. Their bright shorts and jerseys, plastered with corporate logos and containing every colour in the rainbow, indicated they were enjoying a share of cycling sponsorship.
For Marais, the fact he has been racing for over two years without a sponsor is now having serious ramification and he will return to Stellenbosch on March 10 and line up for the World Cup — and it will probably be his last race.
After that event, as his brightly-clad rivals head off to their next event in exotic locations all over the world, Marais will be saying goodbye to professional racing — for him, the World Cup looks like being his final event as a professional rider before he retires.
The costs of supporting himself has stretched his savings to breaking point and if he does not find a sponsor in the next month, South African cycling will have so say goodbye to the rider who is currently the second ranked South African on the world rankings.
Swart, who works with some of the country’s top mountain bikers, is not somebody who is known to throw out undeserved praise. His Twitter profile highlights his analytical nature: “Sports Physician & Exercise Scientist. Director of Sports Medicine at University of Cape Town & The Sports Science Institute of SA. MBChB, MPhil, PhD.”
If Swart questions the lack of sponsorship for Marais then it is worth taking note, and Marais’ results, particularly over the past year, have been worth noting.
On a provincial level in KZN, Marais has taken over the position as the province’s top rider. He was unbeaten in 2017 in both the local XCO series and provincial championships, and also dominated KZN’s Quattro ROAG marathon series and notched up the perfect score of six wins there.
The prizemoney from the ten-month ROAG Series, which is the richest prize for a MTB series in South Africa, was not quite enough to support Marais for a month of riding, highlighting the tough struggle for South Africa pro riders even when they are successful.
On a national level, Marais was second to Alan Hatherly in the African Championships and collected a third among three top five finishes in the SA XCO Cup Series, and he was fifth at the South African Championships.
Speaking after winning the opening leg of the 2018 KZN XCO series event at Shongweni at the weekend, Marais explained his decision.
“I fly down for the World Cup in a couple of weeks, and after the past few weeks’ results I am now ranked 60th on the UCI World rankings which means I will not have to start on the back row this time, which should help, I am hoping for a good result,” said Marais.
“From there I am not sure. I may have a ride for the Absa Cape Epic but that is not confirmed yet. But either the Epic or the World Cup will probably be my last race as a pro.
Photo:
Gavin Ryan / QuickPix
“It is not that I am wanting to stop, but unfortunately I cannot afford to carry on any more. I am still hoping something is going to come about.
“I have raced for just over two years now without a sponsor. In January 2016 I started racing as a fulltime pro.
“Things have just started to pick up this year. I am racing better now than at any time before. I am going a lot better than this time last year, so it is not that things are dying down in my racing, but unfortunately you have to put bread on the table and that is just where I am at the moment.”
Marais is a qualified mechanical engineer and worked on the mines in Mpumalanga before he took a voluntary retrenchment package because the mine was shutting down, and took up cycling fulltime.
What would it take to keep him racing at an elite level?
“Financially I would need about R30 000 a month to cover my local racing, riding and travel expenses as well as my living expenses. And then I would just need to find the money to compete at international events and big stage races.
“I do have six great sponsors at the moment who help me out. They are Scott Sports South Africa who helped get me on my Scott Spark bike, Squirt lube, EAP Active sports physiotherapists, DeFeet Socks South Africa, Hi-tech Therapy, and AbsoluteBlack Chainrings. They are all product sponsors and they have all been a massive help to me, they are all great and I really appreciate all their help, but it is not paying my day-to-day expenses.
“None of them are direct cash sponsors and that is what I need to continue.”
Results and rankings change from week to week, but it is safe to say Marais is currently one of the top cross country riders in South Africa and would be a serious contender for the Olympic team to go to Japan in 2020 if he can continue to train and race as a professional.
Source: KZN Cycling
