Dear All,

It is with great sadness that we bid farewell to our friend and cycling legend Burry, who was tragically snatched away in the prime of his life while training in his home town of Kwazulu-Natal on January 3rd.

We have lost not only a friend, colleague and team-mate, but a true sportsman. He will long be remembered for his humility, his prowess and the gentle manner in which he conducted his life!

Our heartfelt sympathies, thoughts and prayers go out to his wife Cherise, his parents, family and all who were privileged to know this gentle giant.

Life is short, life is sweet but his legend will live on forever...

Sincere condolences to all.

Specialized Family

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Full name : Burry Willie Stander

Nickname : the dart

Age: just old enough to drink beer in the us

Weight: 65 kg (this morning after a coffee and a pit stop)

Height: 174cm

Favourite food: steak ,eggs and chips

Favourite drink: chocolate milk

Hometown: Umtentweni, KZN, South Africa

Coach: Garmin ,Powertap and myself...

Training hours: 10-12 hours in season,20-25 hrs leading up to epic

Strengths: anything short and punchy

Weaknesses: long drawn out boring dirt roads...nutella and ice cream

Bikes: Epic for marathon and XC, Tarmac S-Works for well tarmac, Transition for TT or when I like to go really fast.

Previous pro teams: Factory GT

Years pro: 2009 is my 4th

Race nutrition for marathon/long road races: Typically 2 fast fuel bars,4-6 gels,4 bottles of fast fuel race fuel/water.

Race nutrition for XC: 3-5 gels,around 2 bottles of race fuel/water mixed into smaller bottles depending on laps.

Party nutrition: generally not a lot of solids,mostly fluid

Hobbies off the bike: cars, watching tv, hitting the beach, hanging out with Cherise(girlfriend) and giving Bobby, Christoph and Wellsy a hard time.

Drives: 2007 Audi a3 2.0t with Rieger body kit, 19 inch wheels, custom paint. branch exhaust system and some pumping sound, 2008 BMW x5 3.0sd stock standard unfortunately.

Favourite tv show: Entourage

Favourite movie: Cool Runnings/Talledega Nights

Favourite music: hip-hop/rock

Favourite artist: lil Wayne

Typical day: kiss Cherise,hit the coffee machine.watch some mtv and then its off on a ride.shower,eat,nap,watch tv.more excercise,shower,eat,watch tv,sleep,,,now thats a good day.

Favourite saying: "..that just happened!"

Superstitions: None i can think of.

On being Specialized: A great opportunity to becoming the best I can be, and a bunch of good times with great people along the way!

I started riding mountain bikes with my dad and older brothers on a farm just outside of port Shepstone in KZN at the age of 10. I remember those first years as the most challenging of my career. I think the bikes I was on back then weighed more than me but it didn’t deter my enthusiasm. Instead I always wanted to ride further and faster by day and by night I was flipping through American mountain bike magazines dreaming of one day meeting my heroes that graced the pages. 10 years have gone by and my passion has stayed the same. The same things that drove me back then drive me today.For me its all about being the best that I can be,and if that gets me to the top id be very grateful. The sport has taken me on an awesome journey over the years, in 1999 I won my first Sa and African titles as a u/13 or sprog as the category is known. In 2005 I made a trip to the usa to compete against the best that country had to offer. I managed three wins out of four in their national series and with that I got a wonderful opportunity to race for the gt international mountain bike team in 2006. I steadily improved over my first two years as a pro with the team racing the world cup series all over the world and had a brake through year this year winning the u/23 world cup and placing 5th in the pro men. In 2008 I also had the awesome honour of representing South Africa at the Olympic games in Beijing where I finished in 15th place. I continue to race locally whenever the chance permits and I enjoy riding with friends and family whenever I get the chance.

Career highlights pre 2008
3 time U/19 sa xc and marathon champion
10th commonwealth games 2006
17th u/23 world championships 2006
SA pro xc champion 2006/2007
6th u/23 world championships 2007
African xc mtb champion 2007

Highlights 2008
Mazda drifter Barberton sa marathon series opener 1st
14th giro del capo road tour and 2nd u/26 rider
Cape Epic stage win and leader for three stages(dnf due to itb injury while leading)
South Africa cross country champion
3rd u/23 SA road championships
World cup round 1 Houffalize Belgium 58th
world cup round 2 Offenburg Germany 7th
World cup round 3 Madrid, Spain 13th
World cup round 4 Vallnord,Andorra 2nd
World cup round 5 Fort William Scotland 5th
World cup round 6 Mont St Anne, Canada 3rd
World cup round 7 Bromont Canada 24th
World cup round 8 Canberra Australia 6th
World cup round 9 Schladming Austria 10th
World cup overall standings 5th
World cup u/23 champion
U/23 World championships 2nd
Jeep Hill2Hill marathon champion
Olympic games Beijing 15th

2009 sponsors: Specialized bikes, mr price,Oakley, Fever publications-weekly mountainbike column, Fast fuel nutrition, Crank brothers pedals, Garmin, Songo.info-charity involved in building BMX tracks for disadvantaged communities.