Christoph Sauser scheint bereits in einer bestechenden Form zu sein. Während seinem Trainingsaufenthalt in Südafrika nahm er mit Silvio Bundi und lokalen Sportlern an einer Multi-Sportstafette teil - und schockte alle mit einer unglaublich schnellen Mountainbikezeit. Den ausführlichen und spannenden Rennbericht von einem seiner Team-Gefährten gibts auf der Website Sausers und auf Ride.ch.

Rennberich Total Sport Challenge:

This event has been very different to any other event I have ever been involved in. It had to be one of the most fun, yet stressful, immotional days I have ever had! About two to three weeks prior to the event, I was sitting chatting with Christoph Sauser and Silvio Bundi, who also train here in South Africa and we decided to enter a team, for this seven man team event. Initially I was going to do one of the legs, but realised that a manager was crucial. I soon found myself designated with this role! To put the event in perspective, this event gets massive National Coverage - TV cameras were everywhere, including two helicopters, so too win is a very very good accomplishment.

The event itself consisted of: a 12km Surfski in the sea, a 1500m sea swim, a 50km Road Bike, a 13km Road Run, a 13km K1 Canoe, a 25km Mountain Bike and finally a 9km Beach Run. We had five athletes, after a little gentle persausion and many calls trying to track down the cave man himself, Conrad Stoltz, who was busy chasing leopards somewhere in Africa! Both Conrad and Tim Don, who were literally just returning to training after their winter break, commited despite the fact that they were both out of shape. Christoph Sauser opted for the Mountain Bike, while his Swiss companion Silvio Bundi opted for the road bike. Being a triathlete and thus training with Pierre De Roubaix's swim squad in Stellenbosch, left me with plenty of scope, when it came to sourcing the swimmer. There was no better kid to fill those shoes, than 14 year old Heerdeen Herman, who had just won the open / senior 800m Western Province Championships (he also broke that open / senior record).

Although, on paper we had the makings of a great team, two vital components were missing. We needed athletes for both the surf ski and canoe legs, which were two events I knew very little about. After many phone calls and explanations that we had no sponsors, but we putting together a team two top paddlers committed. Barry Lewin one of South Africa's best Surf Skiers travelled down from Durban, while local Cape Town Man Graham Solamon, who in previous years had being part of a winning seven man team commited to the canoe leg.

The lads reckon I was more nervous than they were! I had an early rise to be at the start point for 5:30am. Naturally the athletes competing later in the day had a little lie in. This was the first time I had the opportunity to meet Barry, who was busy getting ready for his surf ski leg. I quickly introduced him to both Heerden and Silvio. Barry himself finished 2nd in one of last years Surf Ski World Cup Events, so he is an acomplished competitor. Barry's first leg was solid. The surf ski itself consists of 2 laps, so after the first lap I could see that we were in contention lying in 3rd place. Team Nestle set the early pace in the shape of David Mocker. We finished the leg in 3rd position almost 1 min 30'' down. Rough water generally suits Barry, but today the water was flat. I quickly identified that the swim leg was going to be crucial. The former William Simpson Team, now without a sponsor were in second place less that one minute behind Team Nestle. If these 2 teams got close on the swim, I anticipated that their cyclists would work together on the bike, thus putting Silvio in a very vulnerable situation. I also identified at the start of the swim that the William Simpson Team had a kid who beat Heerden by 3'' in the 1500m Western Province Championships, so I never expected Heerden to make up much ground. We had a 25'' deficit to the former William Simpson Team. After the first of two laps of the swim, Heerden had not only caught the second placed team, but passed them! All this in 750m! I remember screaming "Heerden your the man, your the man". By the end of the swim we were less than 45'' down on the leaders and 25'' up on William Simpson, who I expected to be our main rivals as the race progressed. Heerden had dug very very deep and in the process had really shown who was the boss on the swim leg. I remember looking at the faces of the managers on the other teams who were in shock!

I explained to Silvio that if he could ride hard from the start of the 50km bike, AS he may catch the Nestle Team early on, which mean't that they could possibly work together. Silvio was 8th in last years Moutain Bike World Championships. He faced a fellow Irishman Bill Moore, a former Irish National Champion, who won a stage of the R