Participants of the 2016 UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup taking place in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, from 7-8 May, will gain considerable opportunities to earn high numbers of UCI points at the season opener in the all-important Paralympic year.
Participants of the 2016 UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup taking place in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, from 7-8 May, will gain considerable opportunities to earn high numbers of UCI points at the season opener in the all-important Paralympic year. Photo credit: Darren Goddard
The UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) is awarding double the number of UCI points than usual for the Pietermaritzburg event, which is sure to entice international riders to visit our shores for the race.
Cycling South Africa’s Para-cycling Commission Director, Dr Mike Burns, said: “Although the Rio 2016 slots allocated to South Africa are close to being filled, finality in this regard will only be reached after the Pietermaritzburg and one or both of the European World Cups that follow. The earmarked Rio Paralympic squad riders will need to demonstrate that they are on track during the 2016 competition season to indicate their potential for Rio. The Pietermaritzburg World Cup is therefore important in this respect.”
Being hosted locally, the event allows South Africa to enter a relatively big national team; Simon Makgobela will be on the start line of the 2016 UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup taking place in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, from 7-8 May. Photo credit: Darren Goddard
Being hosted locally, the event allows South Africa to enter a relatively big national team. This provides excellent opportunities for riders aspiring to perform well in the 2017 season (including the World Championships to be hosted in Pietermaritzburg) to be noticed and accounted for. The same reasoning applies for independent South African riders who enter, potentially putting themselves on the map in terms of a shot at inclusion in the National Team for next year.
“In the above context, the stakes are high for all riders involved, irrespective of the turn out by international riders,” concluded Dr Burns.
More information on the 2016 UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup Pietermaritzburg can be found here: http://www.cyclingsa.com/2016-uci-para-road-world-cup/.
