Burry Willie Stander (16 September 1987 – 3 January 2013) was a South African mountain biker, the

UCI UCI most commonly refers to: * University of California, Irvine, a public university in Irvine, California, United States * Union Cycliste Internationale, the world governing body for the sport of cycling UCI may also refer to: * Uganda Cancer I ...

Mountain Bike World Cup under-23 men's cross-country 2009 world champion. In the 2008 Summer Olympics, held in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, Stander finished 15th in the cross-country mountain bike race. In the 2012 Summer Olympics, held in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, Stander finished 5th in the cross-country mountain bike race. Stander paired up with Christoph Sauser in 2009 for the Absa

Cape Epic The Absa Cape Epic, founded by Kevin Vermaak and also known as the Cape Epic, is an annual mountain bike stage race held in the Western Cape, South Africa. First staged in 2004, it has been accredited as '' hors catégorie'' (beyond categoriz ...

. Although the team only managed 6th place that year, they then came back in 2010 to claim 2nd place. Finally in 2011 Stander and Sauser finished in 1st place, making Stander the first South African rider to win the Absa

. In 2012 the team were victorious once again, winning the Prologue and four of the seven stages of the marathon stage race. Stander died on 3 January 2013 after being hit by a taxibus while finishing a training ride and returning to his Concept Cyclery Shop in South Africa. The KwaZulu-Natal minibus taxi driver who struck Stander down was convicted of culpable homicide on 17 April 2015 at the Port Shepstone Magistrates Court, and was sentenced to three years in prison.

Career highlights

2006 to 2007

* 3 time U/19 SA XC and Marathon champion * 10th Commonwealth Games 2006 * 17th U/23 World Championships 2006 * South African Pro XC champion 2006/2007 * 6th U/23 world championships 2007 * African XC MTB champion 2007 * sponsor GT Bicycles / Omnico SA

2008

* Mazda Drifter Barberton SA marathon series opener 1st * 14th Giro del Capo Road Tour and second u/26 rider * Absa

stage win and leader for three stages (did not finish due to 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 * Summer Olympic Games in Beijing 15th * Sponsor GT Bicycles / Omnico SA * 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. In 2010, Stander rode across the line in third place at the Mountain Bike World Championships in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Quebec, Canada. He won the Absa

back to back with team partner Christoph Sauser in 2011 and 2012.Sauserwind
In the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London he finished 5th.

Personal life

Stander hailed from

Port Shepstone Port Shepstone is a large town situated on the mouth of the Mzimkhulu River, the largest river on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast of South Africa. It is located halfway between Hibberdene and Margate and is positioned 120 km south of Durban ...

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is loca ...

where he attended an Afrikaans Primary and High School (Suid-Natal). He married fellow cyclist

Cherise Taylor Cherise Willeit (née Taylor, previously Stander; born 6 November 1989) is a South African professional road cyclist. She has won a single African and four South African championship titles, in both the road race and the time trial, and later re ...

in May 2012 on the beach of Port Shepstone.

References

External links

* * * *
On the road with Burry Stander
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stander, Burry 1987 births 2013 deaths People from Port Shepstone White South African people South African male cyclists Cross-country mountain bikers Olympic cyclists of South Africa Cyclists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Cycling road incident deaths Road incident deaths in South Africa South African mountain bikers