South Africa’s National Cycling Team will begin the first of their competitions – the Team Time Trial – at the African Games in Brazzaville, Congo, today.
The TTT route is made up of a 12.5km loop, which is relatively flat and passes through the old town of Brazzaville. Narrow, gravel streets will surely challenge the riders as the women do two loops and the men, three.
The full women’s complement of Lise Olivier, Heidi Dalton, Zanele Tshoko and Catherine Colyn will tackle two laps of the rout, with their main opposition tipped at being Namibia.
A post this morning on the Cycling SA Women’s Commission page said: “8 African countries (32 riders) will start the women’s Team Time Trial at African Games in Congo today. 4 years ago in Maputu there were not enough countries for women to have a TTT.”
In the men’s race, Gustav Basson, HB Kruger, Reynard Butler and Shaun-Nick Bester expect to face stiff competition from Algeria, Morocco and Eritrea along three laps of the circuit.
Team Manager, Wimpie Gouws, explains that the team is in high spirits ahead of the first race. “All seem a bit nervous but they will channel their excitement into the race today. The facilities here at the team village are first class.”
The Individual TT takes place on Friday, with the women’s road race on Saturday and the men’s road race on Sunday.
The cycling team that will be competing in the 2015 African Games:
Women
Lise Olivier
Heidi Dalton
Catherine Colyn
Zanele Tshoko
Men
Hendrik Kruger
Reynard Butler
Thulasizwe Mxenge
Gustav Basson
Shaun-Nick Bester
Emile Jacobs
Officials
Wimpie Gouws
David van Straaten
Brigitte Mileson
