SCOTT Sports, one of the world’s leading performance bicycle brands, has signed young South African mountain bike racer, Zandri Strydom as one of its international ambassadors. Her role will have a long-term focus, but will start with her joining some of the world’s best racers at the SCOTT-SRAM racing team training camp in Stellenbosch, South Africa this week.
Originally from Mpumalanga, Strydom stood out as a high school racer for two things – her ability to win most races she entered and her superb bike-handling skills, which are better than most men and somewhat rare among women. She won several provincial, two national and one Continental title in her final years of school and then spent 2020 and 2021 racing a mixture of XCO, Marathon and Enduro events.
In 2022 Strydom switched her focus purely to Enduro racing. Although she didn’t compete that frequently, she went on to win the South African Elite Women’s Enduro title. But now, with the backing of SCOTT, she’s making a return to XCO racing. Strydom is tasked with helping elevate Contessa, the women-specific sub-category of the SCOTT performance bicycle brand.
“There is this saying: ‘you don’t know what you have until it’s gone.’ And that accurately describes my feeling that led to this decision. I really enjoyed racing Enduro – it’s so much fun. But racing Enduro for the whole of 2022 just made me realise how much I love XCO and how much I miss it. I actually missed those intense pre-race nerves and all the hard work that goes into racing XCO. Cross-country is also the Olympic discipline and that is the dream – representing your country in Olympics,” said Strydom on her shift in focus.
“I fell in love with mountain bike racing in 2016 on a second-hand Scott Aspect 20 and thought to myself: ‘well, it would only be fitting to return to the discipline I love so much on the brand that made me fall in love with cycling in the first place.’ Fortunately, the timing was right for both me and SCOTT so here we are, looking forward to a mutually beneficial partnership as our goals are aligned,” added Strydom.
“The SCOTT Sports DNA is grounded in racing and high performance. Zandri isn’t only an elite athlete with great potential, she is also an inspirational woman. Although based in South Africa, Zandri will be included in international campaigns to grow awareness of SCOTT’s Contessa brand, which runs throughout the SCOTT range from the highest-level performance bikes through to commuter bikes,” said Joggie Prinsloo, SCOTT Sports Africa Brand Manager.
“We identified Zandri’s talent and potential a few years ago and have kept a watchful eye on her progress until the right moment where we could collaborate with her – and that moment is now. We will now surround Zandri with the best possible avenues, guidance, inspiration, opportunities and products to organically grow her into a position where she can star for South Africa at the 2028 Olympic Games. This week we will give her the opportunity to join the SCOTT SRAM racing team training camp in South Africa with some of the world’s best riders – Nino Schurter, Filippo Colombo, Andri Frischknecht and Kate Courtney,” added Prinsloo.
Strydom, 21, fully appreciates the opportunity to train with four of the world’s most successful cross-country and marathon racers.
“In Afrikaans there is this certain two-word phrase that would describe my reaction perfectly when I first heard the news. But I won’t be able to use it now. No, I’m just kidding. I’m super excited to meet everyone and to learn from them as they have so much experience. But on the other hand, I’m extremely nervous and worried if I can even keep up with them. Overall, I feel incredibly grateful to have this opportunity to meet and train with the best in the world,” she said.
Strydom is currently riding the SCOTT Spark Contessa RC World Cup, the top-of-the-range XCO/Marathon race bike.
“My word! The paint job already won me over. But I’m extremely impressed by the shock that has been built into the frame – It gives the bike such a clean look. Talking about a clean look – the bike has the Syncros Fraser iC handlebar which looks like a flush one-piece with the stem. So clean and cool. It also has 120mm suspension which I think fits my riding style so well. I love that these bikes are so quiet on the trails – you only hear the tyres,” she remarked.
For 2023, Strydom will split her time between being a student (BAgric at Stellenbosch) and racing. She has kept her goals relatively simple as she makes a return to XCO Racing.
I’ll be mainly focussing on XCO races while getting stronger and back to where I should be. Hopefully a few World Cups will be added to the calendar later the year. I would say growth is the main goal this year and, in that process, I would like to win the Under-23 XCO National Champs title and qualify to compete at the World Championships.
Strydom is coached by Barry Austin, a fellow South African who also coaches some of the world’s best XCO racers.
“I was quite sad to see Zandri move from XCO to Enduro but respected her decision. When one studies the Talent ID systems, XCO has the highest demands of all cycling disciplines and it is rare to find an athlete who shows true potential in all these areas. Zandri is one such a person. I am excited to see what she can achieve. She has the talent and the work ethic; the next step is to provide her with the competitive environment to stimulate her best performances,” said Austin of Strydom’s return to XCO racing.
Follow Zandri’s progress on Instagram.
Source: Roots Media
