Western Cape’s Candice Lill confirmed her place as South Africa’s top female mountain bike racer, with two emphatic victories at the 2023 South African XCO Championships, presented by Balwin at Thaba Trails at the weekend.
By Sean Badenhorst | Photography: Dominic Barnardt
In the absence of her long-time arch-rival, Mariske Strauss, who is still on a break after sustaining a heart condition, Lill’s task was made easier, but not easy. The course was seriously challenging and for coastal-based riders, like Lill, the 1600-metre altitude can be formidable. Lill’s 2023 Absa Cape Epic teammate, Amy Wakefield (Western Cape), was a popular starter following her freak injury and subsequent success less than a month ago.
In the Elite women’s XCO race, Lill took the lead from the start and never relinquished it. She reeled off five laps between 17:14 and 17:40 to claim a dominant victory in a time of 1:27:41. Wakefield rode to the silver medal in 1:36:36, while XCO first-timer, Steph Wohlters (Gauteng) rounded out the podium in 1:46:10.
We asked Lill some questions:
What did you think of the race course?
It was a really tough course. It’s probably the course with the most climbing I’ve raced in South Africa. The climbing was also tricky. Thaba is always rocky and that includes the climbs, not just the downhills. And for me, being at altitude made the climbing even harder. Definitely worthy of a national championships. The downhills were technical, but not dangerous. You could recover on the descents.
What did you think of the venue as a whole?
The venue changed a lot since I was last there. They have done some massive developments and it made it amazing! It was really nice for spectators and the competitors. More infrastructure made it a bit more comfortable. The XCC course was also well set up as it brought the riders past the spectators twice each lap. I hope to see more XCO events at Thaba Trails in the future.
With your main rival, Mariske Strauss, not racing, did you feel less pressure?
I don’t think I felt less pressure. I always try get the best out of myself on any given race day. There’s a weird psychology with Mariske not there and it being supposedly “more easy” to win the race, it also puts a different kind of pressure on me because if I don’t win, then it’s a bad result. I always try to focus on the process goals and executing them rather than having pressure to get a certain result. But having said that, SA Champs is very important and it’s a special win to get.
Did you have a smooth race?
Yes, very smooth. I was very happy with how it went. I was focusing more process goals. With my coach, Barry Austin, we sat down beforehand and said how do we want to execute this race? With World Cups coming up, I didn’t want to just back off if I was winning. I really wanted to use it as a proper preparation race – as close to a World Cup race simulation as I could get. So, we mapped out certain sections where I would go really hard and others where I would recover. I didn’t achieve all of my segment goals because the altitude really affected my ability to go into the super high zone. In terms of the race itself, I was very happy. I got into a good rhythm and kept it smooth.
How does it feel to be the first ever SA XCC Champion?
Super cool! I loved the XCC race, it was so much fun. There were more entrants, but I think after the XCO race, some women were quite tired. So, there were only four of us, but it was so cool and exciting! Something about that short 20 minutes of racing that really gets your adrenaline going! The course was really well laid out and balanced. I love the speed. It feels really racy. I hope more women will enter and race XCC here in the future.
In the Under-23 Women’s race, KwaZulu-Natal’s Tyler Jacobs scorched around the four laps to secure the gold medal in a snappy 1:15:26. Karlise Scheepers (Gauteng) claimed the silver medal with Jade Skinner (Gauteng) scooping the bronze.
And in the Junior women’s race, pre-race favourite, Limpopo’s Lilian Baber, was unmatched, riding strongly to the gold medal, adding the Junior Women’s XCO crown to her growing list of national titles. Fellow Limpopo racers, Carla Jansen van Vuuren and Tashane Ehlers secured the silver and bronze medals respectively.
In Sunday’s inaugural XCC South African Champs race, only Elite and Under-23 riders were able to compete. Although more had entered, there were a few Did Not Starts, leaving four riders to contest the short-track discipline. Lill secured the win comfortably ahead of Jacobs with Andrea Schoffmann (Western Cape) and Sanchia Malan (KZN) taking third and fourth places respectively.
While the start fields were small in all the women’s categories, the overall number of women racing XCO has increased in recent years and the competitive spirit is as high as ever. XCO racing is really just 60-90 minutes of riding hard at the limit and taking risks – not something that appeals to most women. The structures are in place, now it’s just a matter of encouraging participation from a young age.
Below are the detailed results for all the female races. The male race report and results are here.
Elite, Under-23 and Junior Women
Youth Women & Sub-Junior Girls
Master Women
Women’s XCC
