2007 March gSTAR: Yolandi du Toit

It’s been a challenging 12 months for Yolandi du Toit.

The Konica-Minolta cyclist lost her mom during last year’s Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour and her family struggled to deal with her death.

A year later, Yolandi has picked up the pieces and is stronger and more confident about her abilities as a cyclist.

Yolandi honed her cycling skill as a youngster riding alongside her mother, who was a big cycling enthusiast.

She won the 94.7 Cycle Challenge a few months ago, confirming her title as one of South Africa’s top female cyclists.

Yolandi has had the privilege of travelling overseas through cycling and wishes the South African cycling federation would put more money into women’s cycling and help them pursue their goals.

Yolandi will be on the starting line come March 11 and will be going all out for a win in the Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour.

Introducing our March gSTAR, cycling sensation, Yolandi du Toit.

Where were you born?

I come from Welkom, a very small town in the Free State.

How did you get into cycling?

I started cycling when I was 12 years old together with other school sports, and when I turned 17, I only did cycling as my sport.

After school I went to study to become a Dietician at Potchefstroom University, but my cycling started to suffer a lot.

My head was in one direction and my heart into another. I decided to follow my heart and only cycle after 2 years of studying, and I don’t regret a single day.

It was in 2005, and Barry Austin helped me to get back into it. In 2006 I signed up with Minolta, and went overseas with them for 6 months’ training.

What is the most important thing non-cyclists should know about cycling?

That cyclist also has a right to be on the road and that they must respect us!!! There is nothing scarier that a car sliding past you at 120km/h.

Were you a ‘natural’ athlete to any other sporting codes? If so, why cycling?

Don’t think I was a natural talent, but a hard worker. I played netball for the school’s 1st team when I was 16. I used to practice shooting goals during lunch-break.

My parents started cycling together. My dad got too strong for my mum, and she needed a partner, so she invited me along one day. I joined her on my school mountain bike, and I’ve loved it ever since.

What is your greatest cycling ambition?

Last year I spend 6 months racing in Europe, it was great!! It felt so right to be racing there. That’s when I realized for the first time what I want to be: a European pro-cyclist.  Worlds are definitely one of my biggest goals. I’m working towards winning a medal one day ☺

gsport’s March edition focus is the concept of ‘endurance’. What does this term signify for you, is it a necessary element in the modern woman’s list of accomplishments, and what are the benefits of endurance?

Endurance is the basis of all training:
1. It increase maximal aerobic capacity and
2. Improve aerobic capacity
The purpose for doing it:
1. It stress aerobic system
2. Help your body to adapt to long hours
3. Increase your ability to adapt fat as fuel

Its very important for woman seeing that we do carry more weight as men, its good to do endurance at the start of the season to help you to get writ of extra weight and learns your body to burn more fat when you exercise.

Endurance stimulates slow twitch muscle fibers. Slow twitch fibers is more efficient to confirt chemical energy within the muscle into mechanical work of pedaling.

It improves ligament and tendon stretch which will prepare the body for harder sessions. So the bigger your base the harder you will be able to train during the season.

If you do start your season with a good base behind you, you’ll see that you recover faster after races, and you can rider harder for longer.

Its also important to remember that during your racing season your training program must still include endurance. Endurance for a woman is anything between 90min- 3h.

You won the Pick ‘n Pay 94.7 last year, after returning from 6 month’s training in Europe:Your use of an early kick and high-paced momentum won you that race in amazing style, is this a strategy you can maintain throughout a season?

For each race you need a different strategy. You must always tray something that your opponents would not expect.

I knew that after returning from racing in Europe my body can go flat out for 120km. Cause that’s what racing is like in Europe and I knew that the girls in South Africa aren’t use to that type of racing.

And also training with the Minolta guys helped me, because I am use to training at 80% for 3h with them. So coming back to your question I think I will be able to do it again if I just keep on training hard☺

What other races have you placed in the top three during the past 12 months?

What is your current training regime, and what’s your form like right now?

Unfortunately I got a bit sick last week on our team’s training camp, so I will be taking some time off now. I think my form is really good at the moment.

I did a lot of base miles during December and January. This year I am also a lot more focus than last year! So I really hope I’ll have a good season.

How do you feel about your chances of winning the Cape Argus Pick n Pay Cycle Tour?

I think our team’s chances are really good. All of us have been training hard.

Konica-Minolta racing team has just returned from a training camp in the Eastern Free State: Who are your team-mates?

Arien Torsius, Cherise Taylor and Ronel van Wyk.

Do you girls get on?

It’s the first time that I am on a team that all the girls get a long. But I think is more because of (team manager) John Robertson’s good team structure. Its better to have a mixture of girls and boys together.

The girls are also still very young and they know what they want in life and what they need to do to achieve it. There is no time for issues!!

Please explain why cyclists race in teams, when events are won by individuals?

Last year there was no need for teams. ‘cause the girls were racing so negatively. Some of them would have five girls in their team, and still want to take all their mates to the line.

In real cycling it doesn’t work like that. That’s why John decided to put a girl’s team together so that the others can see what a team is really about.

This year has been great in the team, so far. We raced flat out in every race, because we know that we can ride as hard as we can until we drop, because we have each other to back us up.

That’s what cycling is really about, to save one of your team mates who are good on the day, and use your other team-mates to make your opponents tired. Not to sit and wait for the line and sprint!

What is it like to be in a team with some of your most significant competitors?

Great!!! They are strong, aggressive girls. And it’s just so much easier if four can do the job, instead of one.

Who are your role models?

My role models in life must be the two men I love most in my life. My father, we lost my mother at the start of 2006, the same time as the Argus Cycle Tour last year. He didn’t want to live anymore, but he kept on living for us. He looked after us, loved us and kept our family together.

And my other role model is Martin, the love of my life. He is an amazing person. He taught me so much about life, cycling and basically everything. He is my anchor in life.

What can be done to improve the state of women’s sport in South Africa?

Every year cycling among the ladies is growing. I remember when I started there where only 2 girls taking turns to win races and now there is a new face on the podium every weekend.

It would help a lot if our federation put more money into woman cycling. There are a lot of girls that want to go overseas.

They must just help them financially to survive over there. Most other country’s support their cyclist financially, to race over seas.

What do you love most SA?

There are two things I love most about South Africa: The people, who are friendly, sociable and have good sense of humor.

And the fruit: South Africa has the nicest and cheapest fruit. That’s what I miss the most when I’m in Europe ☺