It has recently been announced that two of the most successful and well liked endurance mountain biker racers in Australia will be racing together for 2013. Andy Blair and Shaun Lewis have trained together for a long time – and now they will be racing together too. Although they have been great mates for a long time, with other commitments in previous years this hadn’t been able to happen. Moving into 2013, both Blair and Lewis know they really want to enjoy the racing, and the sponsor network that Blair has setup, based on support from Swell Design Group, is more than willing to accommodate Lewis as well.
“It never could really happen until now, we want to focus on the enjoyment of racing” said Andy Blair. Between the two of them, they have won most major marathon and stage races in Australia, and Blair was the 2011/2012 National AMC Champion (as well as 2012 XCM Champion). The advent of the Real Insurance XCM Series has lifted the profile of Marathon racing in Australia, and although Lewis was arguably already a marathon specialist, it may have been a factor that enticed Blair to stay at home during the World Cup XCO season.
Previously, despite training together, traveling to races together, and being mates – they were often racing against each other. Despite the presence of other teams in marathon races, there has been a lack of racing as a team. Be it dynamics, or a case of who is fit and who isn’t, it is hard to see a team in action recently who has been able to deliver such a powerful duo as Shaun Lewis and Andy Blair.
“It’s a case of the whole being better than the individual parts,” explains Blair. “We are going to be able to tactically take more risks. There is only so much you can do on your own in a marathon.” If you look at the international scene, you can see team work in Marathons at work. Be it Wolfram Kurschat turning himself inside out for his Topeak-Ergon team mate Alban Lakata for the first 60km of the 2010 XCM Worlds (despite different nationalities), or Lukas Buchli and Thomas Stoll from the Bixs Team working together to get the win in the 2010 Swiss National Park Bike Marathon – the team element is there. It is especially strong in South Africa, where the predominance of paired stage racers means that the dynamic carries into their national Marathon series, with each racer working for the other. David George and Kevin Evans were a great example of this – and that dynamic is not something that George’s EPO abuse created.
Kevin Evans (left) and David George always showed a great team dynamic. Photo: Luke Pallett
The 2013 season is jam packed with races, and Blair stated that he and Lewis “have completely aligned our goals.” Similar to the past season, Blair said he will focus on the National XC Series and the National Champiosnhips first. They will also race all the big marathons in Australia (presumably the Kona Odyssey, Flight Centre Epic, Dwellingup 100 etc that are not part of the XCM Series) and of course the Real Insurance XCM Series and the National Marathon Champiosnhips. “I will probably do a stage race as well” said Blair, but didn’t confirm which one.
Specialized will be providing bikes for the pair, and SRAM are continuing the great support that Blair has experienced for years on end. Currently both riders have received their hard tails – and to quote Blair he is “super stoked with it.” Best of luck for the year ahead Andy and Shaun!