Local paracyclist places second at World Cup
Gary Coetsee hopes to be included in the teams representing the country at the World Cup in Spain and the Paralympics in Rio.
A local paracyclist who won a silver medal at the World Cup over the weekend, is uncertain whether he will still be included in the team representing the country at the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro later this year.
Gary Coetsee (33) says he will continue to train as though he was going this year, and again in four years’ time.
Nonetheless, what makes his achievements so far this year so remarkable is how new Coetzee is to the paracycling scene.
Coetsee rides with a C4 classification. A few years ago an accident injured the muscles, tissues and nerves in his left leg.
He took up mountain biking as a hobby and switched to road cycling about a year ago. He does not even ride full-time.
Yet, after winning gold medals in the time trial and road race at the SA National Road Championships in KwaZulu-Natal in February – the first time he participated – he was selected to the national team.
He participated at the UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup in Pietermaritzburg over the weekend.
On Saturday he placed second in the time trial after C4 world champion, Slovakia’s Josef Metelka. “He is in a league of his own,” Coetsee said.
He noted however, that with hard work he could beat him yet. “He was only a little more than 60 seconds faster than me per lap. It was incredibly tough,” he added.
“It was massive just to compete against international cyclists and to place second coming from nowhere. I obviously didn’t expect it, but my hard work paid off.”
Now he is looking towards possible attendance at the world cup event in Spain in July – depending on available funding from Cycling South Africa. He adds that the team for Rio has been selected, but a few spaces have apparently been reserved for stand-out performances, of which his is clearly one.
While he waits to find out, he is not resting on his laurels. “You can’t place second at a World Cup and stop. I have to pursue this.”
- Read Gavin Cowden’s report about the UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup on Lowveld Cycling’s Facebook page here.
