Riding into 2019 with young talent Mlu as he reaches for new heights

Participating in sport is a common thread in Lombard Partnerships. A month ago we published a blog about Mlungisi Mazibuko (or Mlu as he prefers to be known), an avid young, talented mountain biker who received a new bike earlier this year co-sponsored by Lombard Partnerships and Sponsorshop, two of CN&CO’s partners and friends.

Having had such a successful year with his riding in 2018, we checked in with Mlu to see what his plans are for the upcoming year.
M: So let me start off by saying that this year is going to be an awesome year as I have high hopes and big plans for this season. I will be taking part in some South African National Champs which are all the MTB Cup series taking part around South Africa and I will also be starting Track Racing to help improve my power. I have also joined the High Performance Gym offered in my school to young athletes wishing to improve their athletic skills. I am wishing to start focusing more on the Cross Country Mountain Biking events (XCO). I have also put together all my goals starting from this year which are as follows

Short-term goals:

  • KZN Lap Challenge #1 17 Feb top 10
  • KZN Track Champs 23 Feb 2nd or 1st place
  • KZN Lap Challenge #2 17 Mar top 6
  • SA Track Champs 26-31 March, podium finish
  • Get KZN colours for road racing U19 – 2019

Medium-term goals: 2 – 5 years

  • Get podium finishes overall U23 Men in local races (Marathon)
  • First Place finishes in my age category U23 Men (Marathon)
  • Do more UCI SA Nationals XCO aim to finish top 10
  • Get podium finishes in U23 Men SA XCO races
  • Represent SA at the 2021 Commonwealth Games – MTB XCO and road

Long-term goals: 5 – 10 years

  • Focus on making SA Champs MTB Team in the overseas UCI U23 events as well as Elite Men events
  • Aim for top 10 in the U23 World Cup

Extreme long-term goal: 10 years’ time

  • Win UCI World Championship

“If You Want To Achieve Greatness Stop Asking For Permission”

At the end of December Mlu was kitted out with new features on his PYGA bike thanks to Lombard Partnerships to which he expressed his thanks and appreciation saying:

“A special thanks to for the new features on my PYGA bike. It is so awesome and the new group set fitted on just four hours ago has already done 70 km with 1 055 m of climbing. The bike weight has also gone under 11 kg now, weighing 10.7 kg. Thank you so much Lombard team.