Coates is on his way to Rio

Coates, manager of Valencia Cycles and director of Mountain Biking South Africa and has been involved in the sport for over 20 years.

“I am very excited to travel with the team. I don’t think of cycling as a career because I am so passionate about the sport. The Olympic Games are the pinnacle of sports. A gold medal at the games is what everybody dreams of,” Coates said.

Coates and road-cycling manager, Douglas Ryder, will travel to Rio de Janeiro next Friday to manage the training facilities, accommodation and accreditation for the games.

The road team consists of Daryl Impey, Louis Meintjies (who on Sunday became the first South African to achieve a top-ten finish in the Tour de France), Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio and An-li Kachelhoffer.

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Kyle Dodd, who was crowned the new track and elite men’s winner during rounds four, five and six of the BMX South African National Age Group (NAG) series in July, will also travel with the team.

Two of the most exciting young prospects in South African cycling, James Reid and Alan Hatherly will be representing their country in mountain biking.

Impey and Moolman-Pasio took part in the Pennypinchers SA National Championships which were held in Mbombela in February 2015.

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Meintjies finished eighth in in the 2016 Tour de France. Impey finished 38th overall.

“Reid and Hartherly are on form. If we place in the top 10, we will be happy. If we finish in the top five, we will be ecstatic and a gold medal would make us delirious,” Coates said about the team’s Olympic prospects.

He is hoping to see local riders such as Zandri Strydom and Franco Pelser competing at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, and newly crowned SA MTB champ, Jooste Coetzee (12), participating at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Durban.