Frances up to speed with cycling victories
"I attacked at the end of the third lap and broke away from the bunch, opening a small gap. What followed was a 35km solo breakaway, which can only be described as the deepest, hardest dig of my life to keep that gap. Going up the final climb, I thought I was going to pass out if the short downhill to the finish line did not come soon."
It has been an extremely busy month for local cyclist, Frances Janse van Rensburg.
She kicked off a jam-packed few weeks at the prestigious Sappi Karkloof Classic mountain bike event at the start of June.
Since racing the 40-kilometre half-marathon event three years ago, it has been one of her goals to win the 60km full marathon, and this year it finally happened.
Frances was the first female finisher overall and the first junior (under-19).
Next up on the calendar, on June 15 and 16, were the final two rounds of the SA Cup series, and the Junior World Cup at Cascades Mountain Bike Park in Pietermaritzburg.
Frances took top honours in the SA Cup series.
In the Junior World Cup, she was the second female finisher overall, and the first South African finisher, competing against a huge international field on both days.
The SA Road and Time Trial Championships took place the following weekend in Westville.
Frances won the SA Time Trial title on the Saturday and by the Sunday, had won the 80km Road Race to become the South African Junior Road Champion.
The Road Race consisted of five laps of 16km, with a 300-metre climb on each circuit.
“I attacked at the end of the third lap and broke away from the bunch, opening a small gap. What followed was a 35km solo breakaway, which can only be described as the deepest, hardest dig of my life to keep that gap.
Going up the final climb, I thought I was going to pass out if the short downhill to the finish line did not come soon.”
Frances thanks her coach, the Absolute Motion team and Callans Bike Tech for the amazing support on her exciting journey.
She says her goals for the remainder of 2019 are to be selected by Cycling South Africa, for the Mountain Bike World Champs in Canada in September, and for the World Road Champs in Yorkshire, England later in September.
Also read: Adventurous cyclists undaunted by harsh Karoo terrain
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