It was a massacre!
But the South African time trial and road cycling championships, held at De Deur from Thursday, showed that the country can still make its voice heard on the international stage.
However, events over the past two years have also shown that there is a great responsibility on cycling officials to revive this prestigious sport.

Brilliant cycling

With mountain bike racing and now also gravel racing becoming increasingly popular, Cycling South Africa will have to intervene aggressively to avoid a repeat of the events two weeks ago at the provincial championships.
Brilliant cycling was seen at the SA championships, with the u/23 and elite women providing especially exciting races.
Where was the television to bring this nail-biting excitement to South Africa?

Officials warned

Unfortunately, officials also warned that the changes in distances would take their toll.
Just 12 days after the provincial championships, the masters riders had to return to the saddle and were surprised when distances were more than doubled from 43km to 100.6km.
Especially in the 40–49 age group, where Middelburger Neville Rosenstein rode… it was a massacre.
He still had two laps left before he decided to throw in the towel.
There were 22 riders who didn’t finish, with only 20 making it to the finish line.
In the 60–69 age group, 11 did not complete the road race.
Five riders did not finish the race in the 50–59 division.

Winners

Lisa Bone won the elite women’s division in 3:51:32, Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio was second in 3:51:33, and S’Annara Grove was third in 3:51:34.
Former Middelburger Magda Nieuwoudt was 13th in 3:52:00.
The u/23 division was won by Tyler Jacobs with a time of 3:51:32
Nelspruiter Megan Botha was fourth with a time of 3:51:39.
Ryan Gibbons won the elite men’s race in 4:08:52, Tyler Lange was second in 4:08:53, and Reinardt Janse van Rensburg was third in a time of 4:08:53.
Blaine Kieck won the u/23 men’s division in 4:08:51. Nine of the participants in the division did not finish the race.