{"id":10032,"date":"2020-08-14T12:58:06","date_gmt":"2020-08-14T10:58:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/?p=10032"},"modified":"2020-08-14T12:58:09","modified_gmt":"2020-08-14T10:58:09","slug":"introducing-the-riders-of-team-nanotime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/introducing-the-riders-of-team-nanotime\/","title":{"rendered":"Introducing the riders of Team NanoTime"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Following the July 31st<\/sup> launch of the NanoTime website<\/a>, which aims to become a platform for inspiring you to get active and educating you on how to stay active, the mountain bike team was announced today, 14 August 2020. After weeks of speculation as mountain biking fans tried to guess the identities of the team members from their avatars, the NanoTime team are: Zandri Strydom, Matt Beers, Nico Bell, Wessel Botha and Stuart Marais. The squad will be supported by {type}DEV, Specialized Bicycles Africa, Bells Cycling and Sponser Sport Food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Zandri Strydom is without a doubt the most exciting young mountain biking talent in South Africa right now.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re thrilled to have five extremely talented athletes, who are all great ambassadors for the sport of mountain biking and most importantly each have an inspirational story to tell\u201d Dave Jacobs, the CEO of {type}DEV the software engineering firm underpinning NanoTime said. \u201cZandri is arguably the most exciting female mountain biking talent South Africa has ever produced, her technical skills are simply sublime. She challenges the preconceptions of what women can do on a bike.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Matt Beers has been the most successful marathon and stage racer in South Africa over the last two seasons. With the aid of Team NanoTime and {type}DEV he could progress to being a dominant force on an international level.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMatt is South Africa\u2019s top marathon and stage racer\u201d Jacobs added. \u201cOver the last couple of years his record has been fantastic and we\u2019re excited to have a rider of his World Class status on the team. Wessel is a rising star. He has won Wines2Whales, alongside Matt, twice already, despite being only 21. We can\u2019t wait to aid him in his development over the next few years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cNico meanwhile is one of South Africa\u2019s most experienced mountain bikers\u201d Jacobs praised. \u201cHe\u2019s balanced running a successful bike shop in Nelspruit, with a career at the highest level of the sport. Nico has a few major goals he\u2019d still like to achieve before calling time on his illustrious professional riding career and we hope that he\u2019ll be able to reach those goals in the NanoTime colours.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cStuart is the heart of Team NanoTime\u201d Jacobs explained. \u201cHe was the first athlete we supported through {type}DEV and has been instrumental in setting up the squad. He is one of South African cycling\u2019s unsung heroes, who had to race as a privateer for much of his career. We\u2019re looking forward to seeing the results he will be able to achieve from within a team set-up. He\u2019s also an inspiration to young athletes, an example of how to keep pursuing your dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJoining NanoTime has been the biggest step in my career as a professional cyclist\u201d Marais revealed. \u201cHaving spent my professional cycling career as a privateer, with the exception of 2014 when I rode under the Kargo banner, this will be the first true team setup that I shall belong to. It\u2019s immensely exciting and will be good to have the comradery of team mates going forward. We hope that the success of the team will be shared with our fans and followers and will inspire them to get active and get moving as we showcase what is possible with sport. As much as we are all pros, we started somewhere. I managed to work my way up the cycling ladder whilst working as an engineer and so there is no reason why others cannot follow suit and we hope to be able to inspire people to get moving with our own journeys.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe initial intention with the team was to only look at starting in the 2021 season, as most riders had been signed and I personally was looking forward to an exciting 2020 season\u201d Marais continued. \u201cIt was building up to be a phenomenal season, across South Africa, as athletes were showing incredible promise with it being an Olympic year. Then, as everyone knows, Covid hit with full force and with-it teams started to fold as sponsors were, understandably, unable to fulfil their obligations. Dave Jacobs, CEO of {type}DEV, then approached me and we decided to move our timeline up by 6 months and try see if we can change an incredibly negative situation into a positive one and with it change the way teams are run in South Africa. The team aims to be leaders in what will be a very different world going forward and change for the better the way sport is run.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Wessel Botha <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith a line-up consisting of some of the top athletes South Africa has to offer, we have ambitions of being the best team in the country\u201d Marais confirmed. \u201cInitially we will be targeting local marathon, cross-country and stage races; with our eyes firmly fixed on been the first South African team to win the Absa Cape Epic. We\u2019d also be targeting the South African National Championships, in a number of disciplines. But we want to expand to be an internationally recognised team too. We honestly believe we have potential World Champions in our line-up and want to do everything we can to help these athletes realise their potential.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Specialized Bicycles will be the team\u2019s official bike partner, while other sponsors include Bells Cycling and Sponsor Sport Food. \u201cSpecialized Bicycles Africa is proud to be able to partner with Team NanoTime\u201d Kylie Hanekom, Marketing Specialist for Specialized Bicycles Africa, said. \u201cWe know that the world is a better place when we move our bodies, by bike, and we all have a role to play in using our passion to create a better, cleaner, and healthier tomorrow. The team sets the benchmark for performance in South African cycling and as such will inspire others to use the sport we love to live a healthier life. We look forward to a successful season ahead and sharing the stoke that bicycles bring with newcomers and existing cyclists alike.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u201cBells Cycling is proud to be associated with Team NanoTime, we have been involved with various teams over the years, with Team NAD being the last team we supported\u201d the store owner, Nico Bell, stated. It made sense to get involved with NanoTime in these tough times and provide support to talented riders! We will make sure the rider\u2019s bikes are running smooth and fast at all times. We have a great partnership with Specialized Bicycles Africa to be able to support the team with the best bikes and equipment. Through Sponser Sport Food ZA we will also be able to make sure the riders have only the best nutrition. All their products are safe and stimulant free, ensuring they are ideal for professional athletes.\u201d Mountain biking fans can follow Team NanoTime\u2019s progress towards those bold ambitions on social media. Follow @nan0time<\/a> on Instagram, like the NanoTime<\/a> Facebook page and follow @NT_Movement<\/a> on Twitter to stay up-to-date on the team\u2019s results and performances. For inspiration and education to fuel and maintain your fitness journey, as well as for more news on the team, visit www.nanotime.co.za<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source: Seamus Allardice Media <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Following the July 31st launch of the NanoTime website, which aims to become a platform for inspiring you to get active and educating you on how to stay active, the mountain bike team was announced today, 14 August 2020. After weeks of speculation as mountain biking fans tried to guess the identities of the team… Read More »Introducing the riders of Team NanoTime<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10033,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":"","wds_primary_category":0},"categories":[59],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10032"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10032"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10032\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sparkbikereview.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}