Pretoria teenager wins national road bike championship
A young cyclist from Pretoria, who only recently switched from mountain bike competitions to road racing, was recently crowned 2021 Youth South African National Champion for road racing.
Pretoria teenager Travis Rademan-Ludeke (15) was recently crowned 2021 Youth South African National Champion for road racing. The 2021 Youth SA National Road Champs was held in October at the Forever Resort Swadini and ran in conjunction with the Jill Bezuidenhout Youth Festival. At the same event, Rademan-Ludeke also managed a second place on the podium for the Individual Time Trial event. Scheduled over three days, the competition consisted of an Individual Time Trial, a Criterium closed circuit race as well as the daunting Road race. Participating boys and girls were able to participate in three different age categories, namely u.11, u.13, u.15 and u.17.
Photos: Tobias Ginsberg
“Taking into consideration that we had to cancel so many events during the lockdown period that started in March 2020, it was really exciting to welcome our youth back in this year’s CyclingSA Youth National Championships. Participants share the same passion and this championship is therefore an event where lifelong friendships are made. These boys and girls will ride together long into the future” said Ciska du Plessis-Austin, the President of CyclingSA. Rademan-Ludeke could hardly contain his joy after his victory “It is an incredibly beautiful part of the country to be riding and the competition was really tough, but I am very happy that I was able to achieve this victory,” he said after the event. One of the remarkable aspects of his victory is the fact that Rademan-Ludeke has only competed competitively in the sport for a year now. He was introduced to the sport through Mountain biking and had won the title of Gauteng Central XCO Champion at the end of 2020. “I’m excited about what the future holds. I dream to race internationally and represent South Africa in the Olympics and The Cycling World Championships,” he remarked. The 2025 World Road Cycling Championships will be held in Rwanda, a first in Africa.
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