Mbombela cyclist makes SA proud at African championships
Samantha Saunders says the level of riding in Africa has improved a lot and offers stiff competition.
Cycling in Africa is improving at a rapid pace. Samantha Saunders can attest to this, as she had just returned from the 2016 African Continental Championships, held in Benslimane, Morocco last week.
Local rider Saunders was a member of the national women’s team who won a gold medal in the 36 kilometre team time trial. They beat their closest competitors, Ethiopia, by nearly three minutes.
The elite national women’s team also took a second place in the road race.
“We were definitely going after gold and we had a really good road race, but at the end of the day we crossed the line second,” she told Lowvelder. “We were happy with second.”
Personally, she managed a podium finish in the individual time trial, bringing home a bronze medal.
“For me personally, I wanted to be on the podium. A gold medal was the goal. I just got beat.”
She was, however, only 11 seconds behind the winner.
“It was very well organised in terms of logistics,” Saunders said of the championships. “Unfortunately we didn’t get to do much sightseeing.
“The level of riding in Africa is increasingly getting better. It is no longer a case of South Africa showing up and winning.”
She will be competing in the Cape Town Cycle Tour this coming weekend, after which Saunders will pack away her road cycle to focus on the South African MTB championship in April.
