After grabbing her maiden win in the aQuellé Tour Durban presented by Sunday Tribune last year, Pretoria based racer Lise Olivier has committed to lining up with her Time Freight eTeam teammates in what she expects to be the biggest and most competitive women’s field in many years on Sunday, 26 April.
The 31 year old Olivier capped off a striking aQuellé Tour Durban debut by the Pietermaritzburg based team last year where the big team that included a number of mountain biking stars worked together to totally dominate the race and send Olivier to the line ahead of BestMed’s Monique Gerber.
Lise Olivier (Time Freight eTeam) claims the women’s title in the aQuellé Tour Durban presented by Sunday Tribune. // Photo credit: Darren Goddard/ Gameplan Media.
Olivier, who was recently co-opted onto the Cycling South Africa structures as the director of the Women’s Commission says she is sure that the new Freedom Day Challenge on the day after the Tour Durban will ensure a big field of elite racers will be present at both the Tour Durban as well as the Freedom Challenge.
“I am sure the standard of racing in the women’s race will be much higher than it has been in recent years,” said Olivier, who said that a number of new invitation teams had been created to take part in the week of major road races in KwaZulu-Natal.
“I love the way that the province of KwaZulu-Natal has committed to cycling,” she said. “I always enjoying riding in KZN and the weather at this time of year makes it special as well.”
Olivier was quick to shrug off suggestions that she will be under undue pressure starting as the defending champion.
“I don’t really do that to myself!” she laughed. “I am really out there to enjoy myself. I will race hard and aggressively and let’s see what happens.”
Her emphasis on pleasure underscores the distinctive ethos of her team since its inception, where they have sought to bring together experienced professionals with emerging talent and top riders produced by development programmes, aimed at transferring skills and experience while at the same time ensuring that they are always enjoying their riding and the team environment.
Lise Olivier breaks away at the front of the women’s race during the early stages of the aQuellé Tour Durban presented by Sunday Tribune. // Photo credit: Darren Goddard/ Gameplan Media.
“I hope we can set an example,” she added. “Hopefully some of what we do can overflow to the other teams
She added that while she will have a strong team committed to the race, they have lost their MTB stalwarts to the national XCO event in Mankele on the same weekend as the aQuellé Tour Durban.
Olivier also added that she was enjoying riding with the team, saying that she felt that her training was better this year, and the good mix of riders ensured that the tough lessons they learnt were taken on board in a good spirit.
“It has been a tough few years for women’s cycling,” said Olivier. “Many teams can’t afford to travel to all the events so they have to prioritise. With small budgets some of the teams are now operating as two riders or even one individual, which is very tough.
“We have to try and get these teams functioning in a manner that is sustainable in the long run.
“Being a Pietermaritzburg based team the aQuellé Tour Durban is one of the Team’s priorities, and we are really looking forward to the race on Sunday 26th,” she added.
Olivier and her Time Freight eTeam team mates can expect little charity from the expanded women field, with pressure sure to come from the class field that will include former winner Lynette Burger Pieterse, fresh from her win at the Cape Town Cycle Tour.
More information can be found at www.tourdurban.co.za.
