KZN champs kicks off cycling season this weekend
The 'Race of Truth' time trial championship events will take place on Saturday at the Lion Park, while riders will test their group-riding tactics in Sunday's road racing championships on the Van's Circuit.
The post-festive season rest period comes to an end for KZN’s top road cyclists as the 2018 road season kicks off with a record entry at the provincial championships near Camperdown on Saturday and Sunday, 27 and 28 January.
The ‘Race of Truth’ time trial championship events will take place on Saturday at the Lion Park, while riders will test their group-riding tactics in Sunday’s road racing championships on the Van’s Circuit.
The KZN championships will also provide a perfect opportunity for the province’s top riders to test their form before the national championships which take place in Oudtshoorn from 6 to 11 February.
2017 men’s road race champion Brendon Davids will not be seen in action this weekend as he is now riding with an international professional team in Australia, but young women’s champion Tiffany Keep, still in the junior ranks, will defend her title.
In the time trial, Davids’ girlfriend Brittany Petersen will not be able to defend her elite women’s title as she has also moved to Australia. However, Kent Kirkwood will aim for a repeat win in the men’s race and he will also hope to once again carry his form through to the SA championships where he will defend his 40 to 44-age group national title.
“The 2018 event has attracted a record number of entries, with no less than 116 time trial riders and 196 road race entries,” said KZN Cycling Chairman Greg Stedman. “This increase in competitors is a healthy indicator for our sport and a promise of things to come. We are looking forward to some great competition out on the road across all age groups.
“Another healthy indicator is the transformation we are seeing in our sport, and this is once again evident with the entries for this competition. The work being done by the KZN Cycling Development Trust has been truly amazing and they are taking cycling to all the different districts across KZN and allowing us to share the sport of cycling with children from all communities.
“This initiative, and other similar programmes, has meant a lot of new young talent has been identified and we are seeing the benefit of that with some competing in this weekend’s events.”
Saturday’s time trial championships start at 7am with race distances varying from eight kilometres for the under 11s up to 34km for the elite riders, while the road racing distances vary from 12km up to 101km, starting at 6am on Sunday.
