Event to pay tribute to mountain biker

A CYCLE event in memory of Burry Stander, the Olympic mountain-bike racer who died in a road accident last year, will be held in Shelly Beach, KwaZulu-Natal today.

Stander collided with a minibus while training. A charge of culpable homicide against the minibus driver was dropped. Last year’s UCI world championship downhill event winner Greg Minnaar, a friend of Stander’s, said “the year without Burry was tough for not only myself but for the whole cycling community.

“We were looking forward to the UCI world championships ... held in Pietermaritzburg and we [South Africa] would have had the chance of winning two gold medals at the event [if Stander had not died].

“It is something that probably hasn’t happened for too many nations. Burry would have definitely given [cross country winner at the world championships] Nino Schurter a great run for his money ... he did so at the World Cup before.

“Although he was from Port Shepstone, the Maritzburg grounds were not that far away and he grew up racing on those courses, and so did I.”

Stander, 25, won the crosscountry event at the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in 2009 and came third in the mountain-bike world championships in Canada in 2010.

Along with Swiss teammate Christoph Sauser, he won the 2011 Cape Epic, and finished fifth at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

“We’ve seen riders like Candice Neethling [from KwaZulu-Natal] ... go on to win junior medals at the world championships. I’m sure that’s down to Burry’s contribution to mountain-biking in the area,” Minnaar said.

Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula will officially open the Burry Stander Bike Park at the Stander family farm in Umtentweni tomorrow. The park was built to encourage youths to participate in the sport.