Kirsten Van Niekerk out ride other cyclists in a series of competitions
NIETGEDACH– Morag said her daughter’s biggest goal was to join her cousin Christiaan who now lives overseas, to cycle competitively for an international team.
HeronBridge College Grade 8 learner Kirsten van Niekerk scooped the first position in the sub-junior age group in the Tshwane Classic Cycling 60km race held on 23 May outside Bronkhorstspruit.
The mother of the 13-year-old member of the Suzuki team, Morag van Niekerk said her daughter had a passion for the sport and had a dream to participate in a major cycling competition
one day. “Kirsten started cycling quite early in life but became really serious about it when she joined HeronBridge College in 2019,” she said.
“Her passion was really mountain biking, however, our extended family are avid cyclists and her cousin who now cycles overseas, convinced her to try road cycling.
“We got her road bike just before lockdown last year which, unfortunately, put a bit of a dent in her plans but once lockdown was over and she could cycle on the road again, she started focussing quite heavily on improving her skill in this area.”
Morag added that Kirsten’s biggest goal was to join her cousin Christiaan who now lives overseas, and cycle competitively for an international team.
“During April this year, she completed the Northern Farm Jackaldash with the school. On 18 April, Kirsten did the Suzuki Like2Bike 25km mountain bike race at Northern Farm. She finished in a time of 1:24:40 placing her as the first lady to finish and seventh overall in the 25km distance.”
Morag added that on 1 May, Kirsten competed in the Potchefstroom Sakekamer 42km mountain bike race in Potchefstroom.
She finished the race in a time of 02:08:42 placing her first in the sub-junior category. “She took sixth place overall out of 31 lady entrants in all ages, and 38th out of 109 overall across all genders and ages,” Morag concluded.
