Eastleigh cyclist claims victory in the Cape

Eastleigh cyclist Travis Barrett put another victory under his belt after placing first in the Cape Town Cycle Tour.

Formerly known as the Cape Argus Tour the event saw over 30 000 participants cycle 109km through the Cape Peninsula.

Barrett, a member of the Office Guru team, claimed the men’s title of the 42nd tour with a time of 02:30;04 with competitors hot on his heels.

“After I crossed the finish line I could not believe that I had won, you look at the floating trophy and see the names of cycling legends, It’s mind-blowing.”

“In the moment I was in disbelief and feeling pure joy at the same time.”

Twenty-year-old Barrett said the finish was extremely close with runner up Clint Hendricks 15cm behind him.

“If the finish line had been another 10m away, I may not have won the race.”

Although Barrett took the title he said the victory would not have been possible without assistance from his team.

He explained that the team stuck together in a peloton for most of the race and tried to get away from sprinters such as Nolen Hoffman.

On the final stretch to the finish line, Office Guru had nine of South Africa’s top sprinters trailing its peloton.

“My teammates led me well through the race.”

With 250m to go to the finish line, Barrett broke away from the peloton and sprinted for the finish.

“I could sense that Hendricks was right behind me.”

Barrett said although cycling is seen as a solo sport its important to work together and communicate with other teammates.

Leading up to the Cape Town Cycle Tour Barrett competed in the Tour of Good Hope where he won the first stage and was presented with the points jersey.

Barrett believes the cycling experience he gained during 2019 contributed to his success.

Last year Barret competed in the Tour of Mpumalanga, represented SA in the Tour of Taiwan and competed in several races while he spent six weeks in Belgium.

While in Belgium Barrett was struck by a vehicle which resulted in a broken nose and several scrapes.

Although he had to take a 10-day break from cycling Barrett didn’t let the incident slow him down.

“The six weeks in Belgium gave me a lot of experience, the level of racing was incredibly high.”

When the NEWS last spoke to Barrett in 2017 he was cycling in the junior category.

That year Barret was the first junior male to cross the finish line in the Telkom 947 Cycle Challenge and the winner of the 25km Telkom 947 Mountain Bike Challenge.

Currently, Barrett is competing in the u-23 category.

Since entering the older age group Barrett has had to work harder to build his reputation as a cyclist.

“The racing changes and you find yourself competing against older cyclists with many years of cycling experience behind them.”

Looking to the immediate future Barrett is set to represent SA yet again when he competes in the African Continental Road Championships.

The championship, set to be held in Mauritius from March 23-29 will see Barrett compete in the SA team against other teams from Africa.

“I am looking forward to going against other cyclists from Africa and testing my skills.”