Young Ballito cyclists Errin Mackridge and Josh Johnson both claimed national gold medals for road cycling last week.

Competing in the South African Road Cycling Championship and Time Trial Championship in Midvaal, outside Johannesburg, both promising riders again delivered on the big stage.

On Saturday, Errin (18) set out to defend her junior women’s national title from last year, facing off against 19 other riders over 110km. Despite a packed field, there was just one other rider – Mpumalanga’s Megan Botha – who had the skills to push Errin all the way to the end.

Read: Ballito’s Errin Mackridge wins national road cycling title

After over three hours of racing, the riders were separated by around one bike length, with Errin taking gold by just 51 split seconds. Her talent for sprinting shone through, and she grabbed a well-earned victory in 3:09:11:26.

Earlier in the week, Errin also competed in the time trial event, finishing with a bronze medal in 23:39:25, a little under four seconds off first place.

The time trial proved the perfect fit for Johnson (16), as he dominated the 14-strong field in the junior men’s division. He averaged a lightning-quick 49.1km/h over the course of the race to finish in 26:51:92 – a staggering 38 seconds ahead of the second-placed finisher.

Johnson also took on the main road cycling event, finishing in fifth position. Ballito’s Joshua Paul also competed but did not finish.

All three riders came through DriveTrain Academy, where Errin and Paul remain, but Johnson was scouted and now competes for the U19 UCI World Team.

Find a full list of results at: results.finishtime.co.za

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