How to have a successful cycling career in South Africa as a female

[Renee swanepoel]

I have been cycling for more than 5 years mostly self taught or learning from YouTube and struggling to gain any exposure or get to races at all. I’ve been training hard and have put a lot of work and dedication but I can’t seem to get anywhere and somehow it feels like I’m circling in one area. The year 2025 is very close and I still have little support and barely any sponsors to help me get to races. Now, my biggest question is how do I or what does it take to become supported female athlete in South Africa?

Edited November 13 by Renee swanepoel
Crucial information add

[ChrisF]

https://reachforrainbows.co.za/

[splat]

https://www.exxaro.com/media-and-insights/news/youth-development-through-mountain-biking/

 

[PhilipV]

Connections and results to get you noticed. 

The pool of sponsorship spend is very small, and the split for ladies is tiny. You either need to know the right people, or beat the right people. 
So go race, race hard, prepare a sponsorship CV and start introducing yourself to the right people.

[Jimmy 2.0]

This is where people get it wrong, people think that sponsorship is one way deal where they give out free stuff, money and call it a day. Its not that. Sponsorship is a two way deal where company will give you product or money and expect something back like marketing exposure, product review. At the end of the day a professional athlete is a billboard as they get noticed.

Having a career as any cyclist in SA is very cut throat. I know this as I work with them. The Sponsorship pool is very small and income wise isn't very good long-term as a pro athlete reaches a peak point in age.

My recommendation is reach out and contact Exxaro Academy and see what their criteria is. 

 

Edited November 14 by Jimmy 2.0

[DieselnDust]

18 hours ago, Renee swanepoel said:

I have been cycling for more than 5 years mostly self taught or learning from YouTube and struggling to gain any exposure or get to races at all. I’ve been training hard and have put a lot of work and dedication but I can’t seem to get anywhere and somehow it feels like I’m circling in one area. The year 2025 is very close and I still have little support and barely any sponsors to help me get to races. Now, my biggest question is how do I or what does it take to become supported female athlete in South Africa?

I hear you. .heres a few points to ponder, self reflect and think about building into any communications or requests for sponsorship.
what results can you share?

are you a licensed rider under CSA?

do you have an instagram profile to get your message out there?

what do you bring to a sponsor?

what can they offer you ?

how does this get you to be where you want to be? 
what are you doing to get to where you want to be?

 

sponsorship is a three way street. You , the sponsor and their market. 
if it’s not outright performance , what else can you offer?

 

I won’t mince words, if you haven’t reached a level of at least top 10 consistently in league races or in a national series you will find it hard to attract sponsors are better off selling your influence and going the brand ambassadors route as a start 

[Sally E Kirk]

ABSA has an female cyclist initiative called #SheUntamed.  Contact teamabsa@absa.africa for details.

[DieselnDust]

26 minutes ago, Sally E Kirk said:

ABSA has a female cyclist initiative called #SheUntamed.  Contact teamabsa@absa.africa for details.

 I’d be careful there. Lots of conditions and required events with little training support. I’d not seen one #sheuntamed rider reach a performance level that attracts other sponsors.

[Renee swanepoel]

1 hour ago, DieselnDust said:

I hear you. .heres a few points to ponder, self reflect and think about building into any communications or requests for sponsorship.
what results can you share?

are you a licensed rider under CSA?

do you have an instagram profile to get your message out there?

what do you bring to a sponsor?

what can they offer you ?

how does this get you to be where you want to be? 
what are you doing to get to where you want to be?

 

sponsorship is a three way street. You , the sponsor and their market. 
if it’s not outright performance , what else can you offer?

 

I won’t mince words, if you haven’t reached a level of at least top 10 consistently in league races or in a national series you will find it hard to attract sponsors are better off selling your influence and going the brand ambassadors route as a start 

👏 thank you so much, this actually is such a good explanation. I like how you describe what I actually have to work on. 

athlete profile(1) 2.pdf

[Flemish Lion]

Interesting to read this story as my wife is close to ending her 'pro' career, after 16 years in the sport. It still surprises me that so few women managed to get to e.g. Carla, Ash and even Jo's level after all these years of following women's cycling.

That alone shows you it's not easy to get there no mater the talent and not easy to stay there either!

You need to have the right people / support structure in place, aim to get noticed in a positive way and as mentioned state what you can give back to sponsors and will do to promote women's cycling.

It's one of the most expensive / demanding sports, in terms of training, gear and travel so without financial backing, passion and clear goals it's tough!

Edited November 15 by Flemish Lion

[J Wakefield]

2 hours ago, Renee swanepoel said:

👏 thank you so much, this actually is such a good explanation. I like how you describe what I actually have to work on. 

athlete profile(1) 2.pdf 230.56 kB · 19 downloads

I would update this for the following on your cv/profile:

Year 2022?
 there no results in 2023 and 2024? 
W2W x 2 results for the same race/event
You stated your excel in stage races but have no specific result other than "finish" and the ones that have a result posted is only day 1. Nothing for the rest.
 

[Renee swanepoel]

11 minutes ago, J Wakefield said:

I would update this for the following on your cv/profile:

Year 2022?
 there no results in 2023 and 2024? 
W2W x 2 results for the same race/event
You stated your excel in stage races but have no specific result other than "finish" and the ones that have a result posted is only day 1. Nothing for the rest.
 

Ahh now I see thank you so much for the pointers it actually makes sense

[DieselnDust]

A few more pointers:

the stuff about integrity and honesty is good but try to rewrite it in a manner that aligns with a potential targeted sponsors corporate and community values. You can find this under their “about us” or ESG page on their websites. For example they may have a value of “collaboration “

You can write I’m a collaborative influencer through …” and provide an example of how ABUS and you collaborate to help each other achieve agreed objectives.

The wishy washy stuff is actually quite important because the person reading it is unlikely to be a cyclist and may not see the synergy.

i have your email , I’ll give you a marked up version of your bio you can build on.

also it’s DC season with teams looking for riders. Entertain team options for DC especially if it’s a fully paid weekend with a corporate team. You wan to build a network and get yourself out there 

good luck and if you like what I send you feel free to mail back with more questions 

 

all the best

Tim

 

 

[Renee swanepoel]

1 hour ago, DieselnDust said:

A few more pointers:

the stuff about integrity and honesty is good but try to rewrite it in a manner that aligns with a potential targeted sponsors corporate and community values. You can find this under their “about us” or ESG page on their websites. For example they may have a value of “collaboration “

You can write I’m a collaborative influencer through …” and provide an example of how ABUS and you collaborate to help each other achieve agreed objectives.

The wishy washy stuff is actually quite important because the person reading it is unlikely to be a cyclist and may not see the synergy.

i have your email , I’ll give you a marked up version of your bio you can build on.

also it’s DC season with teams looking for riders. Entertain team options for DC especially if it’s a fully paid weekend with a corporate team. You wan to build a network and get yourself out there 

good luck and if you like what I send you feel free to mail back with more questions 

 

all the best

Tim

 

 

Thank you so much I’ll definitely mail back. I appreciate that 😇

[Simon Kolin]

There was a wonderful article written in the Bridgestone Bicycle Catalogue about how to ask for sponsorship. I’ll see if I can find it and send it to you 

[ChrisF]

This ties in perfectly with what @DieselnDust was saying - 

 

Helmut Marko gives personal assignment to Red Bull star looking to reach F1

 

Even at that level it is about the exposure you provide for the brand to a particular audience ....