Illness, mechanicals, and injuries is not something you can 100% avoid; you can only try to limit the risk.
One of my key mental fitness tips is to make sure you are aware of your target and develop a strategy - a routine that you can depend on while in the race. This is a crucial part of mental fitness and preparation.
Winning the Absa Cape Epic already was a wonderful surprise. The World Cup was, for sure, my main goal, but winning all of them was nothing I had planned on.
The Cape Epic is unpredictable. In South Africa, it's scorching hot one minute, then super-windy or rainy the next, so you have to ensure you're ready for anything.
The lesson was an Absa Cape Epic can go all directions: to the good and to the bad.
The trails in South Africa are completely different to Europe: dusty and loose surface.
It is really a great feeling to win a World Cup on your birthday.
Every race is like training and preparation.
I worked hard to complete my medal collection.
I worked hard to get stronger and better, and I'm really happy and satisfied.
I'm just really happy. Really satisfied with my whole medal collection.
It is good to get the racing closer to the spectators.
I have bronze in Beijing, silver in London, and now gold in Rio. It is the perfect story.
I really like Pietermaritzburg: it is really a course for me - really technical.
Every World Cup I want to try and win, and my 30th World Cup win was a big goal. And it's a good feeling to go into the world championships with a good result.
I make sure I have ample sleep, so no late nights out, as sleep is so important for a healthy mind and body.
Only when I saw I could be the first one to win five world cup races in a row did I get some extra motivation to go for it. And after winning five, I said to myself, 'Why not win them all?' The icing on the cake was the World Championship at the end.
Winning the Absa Cape Epic was the base for the perfect season. It really spiced up the soup.
