05 April 2013 – Cycling South Africa is proud to announce the ASG National Invitational road cycling team that will be participating in the inaugural Mzansi Tour, taking place in South Africa from 17 to 21 April 2013.
The five-day five-stage event has a UCI category 2.2 grading and will host South African and international cycling teams.
The team is as follows:
Elite Men:
Robert Hunter
James Fourie
Gabriel Combrinck
Kevin Patten
Reynard Butler
Kyle Donachie
Reserve:
Nico Bell
Management:
Ian Goetham (Team Manager)
South African cycling star Robbie Hunter, who races in the professional Garmin-Sharp-Barracuda cycling team says: “This is really good for South African cycling. There are a lot of international people always wanting to race in SA, and there has been a lot of interest in this tour.
“This is the event’s first year and I am sure there will only be greater interest in it next year.”
Hunter is excited ahead of the Mzansi Tour and cycling in the ASG Invitational national team. “Some of the guys are really young and I will be playing more of a mentor role,” Hunter continued.
“This provides good training for me ahead of races like the Tour of Italy. It is great to race for the national team and it is not often that an opportunity like this comes along,” said Hunter proudly.
Team Manager Ian Goetham is excited that a national tour has returned to the South African cycling calendar. “This will give our riders valuable stage-racing experience.”
“It is a great honour to work with the ASG Invitational national team, especially with an experienced rider like Robbie Hunter. Robbie has achieved a lot at international level and he will definitely provide great motivation for the team. The team is made up of experienced riders and youth.
“The riders will be at a good level of fitness as they have just came out of events like the national championships as well as the TRAC Tour. We will definitely be looking to finish high up on the GC (general classification) and an advantage is that the riders know the terrain. With my experience from our success at the Tour of Rwanda, it will be vital to function as a team and work together to get the best possible results.”
In today’s times it is impossible to make these events a success without the involvement and support of sponsors, and we are forever grateful to our sponsors, particularly for this invitational national team in the Mzansi Tour. Cycling SA would like to thank ASG as well as USN, Subaru South Africa, Garmin SA and Mark2 sports range.
