North Coast cyclists are dominating the standings in the KZN CycleLab School Series and will soon have an opportunity to compete on home soil.

Under-18 athletes from across the province raced in the second of five events in the series at Maritzburg College on Sunday, with local riders delivering strong performances. More than 500 cyclists took on the custom course through the school grounds, which featured the highlight of a floating bridge across the school pool.

Errin Mackridge (17-18 girls), Joshua Paul (17-18 boys), Natalie Kluza (15-16 girls), Cody Maidman (15-16 boys), Sophia Lombaard (U14 girls) and Sophie Bircher (U13 girls) all won their respective divisions. Luke Pretorius, Cameron Mackridge, Daniel Abdo, Patrick Cleghorn, Millie Buckley and Scarlett Elliott also secured top-five finishes.

In the ongoing series, high school athletes leading the overall standings are awarded leaders’ jerseys, giving them a taste of what it might feel like to wear the yellow jersey in the Tour de France. Five of the six jerseys are currently held by North Coast riders. Lombaard, Maidman, Paul and Errin Mackridge all retained their jerseys in Maritzburg with their second consecutive wins, while Kluza took over the 15-16 girls’ jersey from fellow North Coaster Madison Bateson. Bateson was in Sweden for the European MTB Championships, where she finished sixth.

Attention now turns to the upcoming event at Umhlali Prep on August 24. Entries are open at entryninja.com. After Umhlali, riders will head to Howick on September 7, before the national finals at Piet Retief Hoërskool in Mpumalanga on October 4 and 5.

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