#10 Wade Young: A story of how to win!

This is a throwback (it sounds strange saying that) to the very early lockdown days here in South Africa where Doug  caught up with one of the most focused and talent young athletes he has met to date.

"From the moment I met Wade Young I knew that he would rise to become an icon on the Hard Enduro world not just in South Africa but on a global level too. He was extremely focused, approached his training and nutrition seriously and had that "killer" instinct when it came to being competitive."

For this EP of SOMETHING FRESH, we talk about Wade's journey and how he has developed his recipe to WIN!

Enjoy!

Check out his bio below courtesy of Red Bull Media House:

"This KwaZulu-Natal phenom first burst onto the scene in November 2012 when he became the youngest ever winner or the Roof of Africa in Lesotho.

Some would say that winning one of toughest hard Enduro races on the planet so early on in your career is a fluke. But the manner in which he did it, beating second place by a full eleven minutes and finishing ahead of former winners such as 2011 victor Graham Jarvis (third) and three-time winner Chris Birch, speaks of a rider of class way beyond his years.

In 2013, (then aged 17) he won the South African Championship in the Senior Off-Road class and took the title in the under-21 class. He also put in credible finishes at Harescramble and Romaniacs and was runner-up in the iconic King of The Hill event.

Then in 2014 he took the big step up from heir apparent to main contender in the world of Hard Enduro. Not only did he win his second Roof of Africa title, but he also claimed both Ukupachu and King of the Hill Hard Enduro’s and stood on the podium at Red Bull Romainiacs and Sea to Sky.

On South African soil he successfully defended his overall South African Enduro championship title.

2015 saw him once again focused on the World Hard Enduro circuit with a fourth place at Romaniacs (he was on course for a much higher finish until he drowned his bike on the final stage) a third place at Sea to Sky and a second at The Roof of Africa.

In 2016 he signed with Factory Sherco and started the year with a big win at Hell’s Gate. A crash at Sea To Sky (where he won the Forest Stage) saw him break a bone in his hand and put an unfortunate end to his season.

He bounced back in 2017 however, and so far has won the German Wiesel-X extreme enduro, King of the Hill Hard Enduro in Romania and the XL Lagares.

He followed this up with an epic 2018 winning three of the major global hard enduro events this year, taking out Red Bull Romaniacs, Red Bull Megawatt 111 in Poland and Sea to Sky in Turkey, among a string of other podium results. He then capped the year off by successfully defending his Roof of Africa title.

2019 saw him start strong with a runner up finish at the Extreme XL Lagares in Portugal. Unfortunately he spent some time on the sidelines during the middle of the season after having to withdraw from Red Bull Romaniacs due to a crash. He came back strong during the latter part however, winning the American Hard Enduro Series (AHES) series as well as stringing together a host of big results around the globe, including second place at Sea to Sky, winning the Uncle Hard Enduro in South Borneo, Indonesia in late November and claiming the one-day Wildwood Rock Extreme earlier the same month. He also chalked up yet another Roof of Africa title - his fifth (and his third in a row). With that victory, Young cemented second place in the all-time Roof of Africa hall of fame ahead of Graham Jarvis (four victories) but getting closer to the legendary Alfie Cox, who has nine.."