In six weeks he rode 3 000kms, averaging about 18 hours per week. His team didn't dub him "Willpower" for nothing.

When they speak of the strongman of the team, it can only be a reference to UCT cyclist Will Robinson (25).

"It took me five years to get to top-level racing," he says.

The secret? "Perseverance and hard work."

His most recent feat was at the Teavigo SA Duathlon Championships (run, bike, run again) on 17 February, where he took gold in his age category, in WP colours.

In January he won the Cycle Lab Cape Cobra kermesse and the Three Passes Cycle Tour, the first race of the 2007 Pedal Power Association (PPA) Summer League.

His goal for 2007, he says, is to represent South Africa at the World Duathlon Championships in Hungary in May.

But, he's also brain-fit. Robinson is busy with his master's in applied mathematics and will start his PhD later this year.