This is what you need to know about the reversed Telkom 947 Cycle Challenge route

The reversal of the route for the Telkom 947 Cycle Challenge is expected to shake up the racing in the women’s and men’s elite fields on Sunday, 18 November, at the Riversands Commercial Park.

The opening kilometres of the challenge could see some explosive racing as riders seek to take advantage of the sharp climbs through Steyn City. With the pace expected to be really fast on the second half of the race on the M1 and in the final 10km, fortune could favour the brave who manage to break away from the bunch.

According to Nic White, the two-time champion and winner of the first Cycle Challenge, the race will be interesting to watch.

“The start will be a lot more intense with the climbs through Steyn City and Cedar Road,” said White.

“Before it was a lot more gentle and you could ease into the race, but your legs will need to be awake for those first two bumps.

“The climb up to Hyde Park Corner is going to hurt some. You used to get up to 60-70km/h coming down there, so you can divide that by a lot going up. Then there is some time to recover before heading up past the Zoo on Jan Smuts. Again, that was a lovely swooping downhill that helped you fly up the small bump so you could glide through Parkwood and Rosebank. This the highest part of the race.

For a detailed map of road closures, click here

“Then there is the M1, and that is not entirely flat. It is deceptive and can surprise riders. There is also the climb up to Kyalami, some more pain up the Mineshaft and then the climb as you turn left out of Kyalami.

“At least the final 10km will be easier. It will be a very different, exciting Cycle Challenge.”

Daryl Impey, the first South African to wear the yellow leader’s jersey at the Tour de France, will return to his home city to defend the title he won for the first time last year. Impey had come close to victory a few times in the past, but last year the Michelton-Scott rider timed his race to perfection.

“I’m definitely going to be racing hard,” said Impey, who also took part in the Telkom 947 Mountain Bike Challenge at Riversands last week.

“It’s always hard when you are by yourself with no teammates around you, but I love this race. I think that reversing the route is a great idea. It’s good to shake things up and I think you will see that in the racing on Sunday.

“I think the opening few climbs will be fun, and then the bumps along Jan Smuts could play a part in how the race unfolds. The last 10km will be very fast. I’m looking forward to it.”

Last year’s winner of the women’s race, Ashleigh Moolman Pasio, will not be defending her title this year.

South Africa’s top woman rider will be riding for charity with Joel Stransky, the former Springbok and 1995 Rugby World Cup winner, who does a double lap of the course to raise funds for his Lumohawk charity.

With no international riders in the field as the women’s race will not have UCI ranking this year, the local women will be out in force to claim the last big title of the season.

The ever-green Anriette Schoeman, a past winner of the Cycle Challenge, took a strong fifth place at the MTB Challenge last weekend and at the age of 41 is still winning races around the country. She has won in Knysna, East London, Zambia and Cape Town this season.

One person who will be missed at this year’s race is Lynette Burger, who is recovering from serious injuries sustained after she was hit by a minibus taxi that jumped a red light in September.

Burger suffered two punctured lungs, a broken collarbone, several broken ribs and had some slight bleeding on the brain. Burger had been in good form this season and was expected to be amongst the contenders at the Telkom 947 Cycle Challenge.

Also check out:

Road closures: Get race-time ready for the Telkom 947 Cycle Challenge