Smith's seven-day race lasts just 15 minutes

PHIL SMITH'S Cape Epic dreams were shattered only 15 minutes after the start of the seven-day race. The 44-year-old had travelled to South Africa with fellow Guernsey cyclist Lawrie Chandler for the largest mountain bike race in the world.

The gruelling challenge saw 1,046 riders make their way off road over the Western Cape mountain range from Knynsa to Cape Town.

For Smith and Chandler it was the culmination of six months of hard training that saw them, under the guidance of Ann Bowditch, train in South Africa, Spain and race in the UK.

But disaster struck for Smith only 5km into the 916km course.

In the wet conditions, a fellow competitor crashed into him from behind and threw him from his bike.

Smith dislocated his right shoulder and his challenge was over.

'Gutted isn't the word for it,' said Smith.

'It was a nightmare because we trained heavily for it. We were going to fly the flag for Guernsey and it just didn't happen.

'My first thought was to try and carry on but the pain was just too much. I was full of disbelief and it only really sunk in at the end of the race.

'But it could have been worse. A couple of people crashed on the last day.'

Such is the gruelling nature of the contest, 10 per cent of the field crashed out on the first day with only 800 making it to the end.

Smith had to follow action in a van as they decided that Chandler should carry on by himself, even though the race is a paired event and that both riders are required to finish.

Each day of the challenge saw Chandler get up at 5am, start riding at 7am, over heights varying 3,000m for eight hours, before settling down in his tent at 8pm to do it all again the next day.

Chandler estimated that he was burning between 3,000 and 4,000 calories a day.

'It was pretty much a grit and determination thing,' he said.

'You have to keep cycling to keep going. I came on leaps and bounds and it was a great experience.

'When you take on something like this, it becomes obsessive. You now look for something else to do.'

The 28-year-old finished in just under 64 hours to come 300 out of 524.

That was a tremendous achievement considering that he only took up serious cycling last year.

But the investment manager had mixed emotions when he crossed the finishing line.

'It was a mixture of relief and satisfaction but the edge was taken off because of the misfortune to Phil,' said Chandler.