Ballito cyclist Madison Bateson sprinted to 12th place in a closely contested race on her Youth Olympics debut in Senegal on Sunday.

She faced top junior cyclists from 40 countries in the 59.5km women’s road race in Dakar, her first competition against riders from outside Africa. Despite her mountain biking background, Bateson held her own on the predominantly flat course.

“From the start it was quite hard, they were making attacks every lap on the climbs,” said Bateson, who won the African junior road race title in Kenya last month.

“Somewhere along the race the Russian (Angelina Novolodskaya) attacked and from then it was just a chase to get back to her and a sprint to the end.”

The first 20 finishers were all credited with the same time of 1:31:19, reflecting how closely contested the finish was.
“In the end, positioning was everything. I didn’t really position myself well, but still, I’m happy with 12th in my first international road race,” she said.

Novolodskaya claimed gold, followed by Australia’s Elsie Apps and Czechia’s Linda Sitkova.

Bateson was back in action on Tuesday in the time trail, a discipline she considers less suited to her strengths, finishing 33rd in a time of 13:45.

Representing South Africa at the Youth Olympics has been a memorable experience for the young cyclist.

“It’s been amazing to experience the village, trading pins and being with everyone has been awesome,” she said.

Full results are available at olympics.com.