He broke his saddle in the middle of the race and made one with duct tape and a water bottle
The South African Julian Jessop has left us one of the most curious images of the weekend while also giving us a good idea to solve one of the most complicated breakdowns to solve during a race or long routes. His saddle broke in the middle of the race and he managed to replace it with one of his water bottles to reach the finish line.
He lost his saddle in the middle of the race and replaced it with a water bottle to finish
This weekend the Big Five MTB Challenge was held in South Africa, an 80 km XCM race with 3000 meters of elevation gain that for this edition had a high-level lineup thanks to the participation of big names like Swiss Filippo Colombo, who ultimately took the victory, or Austrian Mona Mitterwallner.
But the protagonist of this story was not for finishing first but for managing to finish the race, he ended up in 25th position, with a water bottle as a saddle.
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The South African Julian Jessop, multiple national champion in different categories and a regular in long-distance races like the Cape Epic, lost his saddle with 55 km to go and managed to create one with the spare parts he had on him. A water bottle taped with duct tape to his seatpost was enough to keep pedaling until the finish line.
This story once again shows us how sometimes it's better to be original and have the ability to invent a solution rather than carrying a large number of spare parts every time we go out cycling.