Joel Converts To Put The Score At 100

His 100th was a true Untamed challenge, but the 1995 Rugby World Cup-winning fly-half would have it no other way though, almost like having an All Black opponent trying to charge him down. “Sometimes you remember things for different reasons. Today was tough. I felt nauseous and my stomach was a mess, but to come through it and, you know, have had a real tough 100th stage, you'd probably expect nothing less from this race,” he said afterwards.

According to Stransky, when he started it was going to be just one for charity. “On the Monday after the race, I said, ‘I'm never doing that again,’ and then on the Tuesday I thought, ‘Oh that wasn't so bad, maybe I'll have another go. I really enjoyed the second one and then it was sort of, ‘okay, let’s do one more and get the Amabubesi.”

He admits that over the years the challenge morphed from, ‘just riding to finish to, to trying to race a little bit.’ “If you have a competitive nature and take up a hobby, you're naturally going to turn it into an activity that suits your personality. Like racing… ”

It hasn’t always been as smooth going as an extra-time drop-goal though and in the 2017 Absa Cape Epic Prologue at Meerendal, Stransky suffered a severe chest and lung injury and required facial surgery as a result of a crash.

“It was harrowing,” he says, remembering how doctors had to put a drain into his ribcage to relieve the pressure and help the lung respond. He remains philosophical about it though: “I’ve had 14 starts and one crash, it's probably not a bad record. I mean, I still think back on the crash and think about how stupid I was and how I should have done things differently. But there is no use crying over spilt milk.”

When asked what makes the race so special and what lures him back year after year, he’s clear: “It's not ‘just’ about the racing. It's the training and the people you train with and with whom you share your experiences. It’s like a little tribe".

Stransky is riding the 2024 Absa Cape Epic in the Mixed Category with Rouxda Grobler and he’s once again part of the Absa tribe for this year’s event. The pair suffered a bad mechanical on Stage 3 which knocked off the GC podium and down the rankings, but he is not too concerned about that. “The common goal and the journey is probably as important – if not more important – than the race itself.”

Is he planning on hanging up the racing cleats next to his kicking boots any time soon? The answer is no - the final whistle has not yet gone on his Untamed campaigns. “I would definitely come back next year to ride with Geoff (Lee) again. He couldn't ride this year because of a health issue, but he will be back. We’re going to need to talk though because I'm not sure I wanna race that hard anymore. We’re getting old now. I've got to settle down and behave like a late-fifties sensible human being.”