Mlu smashes the Amashova Durban Classic

Mlungisi Mazibuko (or Mlu as he prefers to be known) is in Matric at Glenwood High School, an avid young and talented mountain and road cyclist who is co-sponsored by CN&CO,  Lombard Partnerships and The Sponsorshop, two of CN&CO’s partners and friends.

I caught up with Mlu about his most recent cycle race, The Amashova Durban Classic. Despite just finishing trial exams and studying for his final matric exams, Mlu managed to still squeeze in some time to train for the 106km race.

This is what Mlu had to say:

The Amashova 2019 was a well-planned event and i really enjoyed it even though I had just 3 weeks to prepare for it, after writing my trial exams, most athletes will agree that this is not enough time to prepare for a big event but I managed.

After 3 weeks of pushing myself to the limit, I managed to pull it off at this year’s Amashova 106km. I had an amazing but challenging ride. When the race kicked off the pace was at its max and the guys were already racing for the win. My mind started playing tricks on me, telling me to slow down – because I had long way to go, and 15km into the race ten of us managed to get a breakaway and rode 80km together after leaving the bunch.

After the breakaway, I felt a lot more confident and stronger but the pace was still very high. It continued until the end where we had to finish the race with a strong sprint as a bunch and managed to catch up with a lot of riders from the batch in front of us. The sprint finish was very fast and although I had been cramping for 20km, I still managed to give it some horns at the end, unfortunately, I could only seal it with a 5th place overall group position and came 132/3175 overall.

The good news is that I managed to ride my fastest time ever at this year’s Amashova 106km completing it in 2:46:27. I am very chuffed and I would like to thank Lombard Partners, the Sponsorship as well as CN&CO for the amazing support this year. The kit they organized for me for this race, made me look like a pro out there. I would also like to thank Cycle Specialist for their support in making sure my bike was serviced properly and for lending me a set of racing wheels to use, those definitely played an important role in getting me to the finish that fast.

Sadly this was my last event for this year as I am about to write my Finals until the end of November.”

Wow, what a fantastic achievement Mlu, the race sounded exhilarating too, as always, you make us so proud. Continue making magic with your final exams, study hard and all the best.

Have a great matric vacation and we look forward to the updates next year.