Strong lineup for Herald cycle tour
Pro teams galore ready to compete in prestige event
IT will be anybody’s race this month as The Herald Continental Cycle Tour boasts the strongest lineup of pro teams in the event’s history. Dimension Data Continental manager Kevin Campbell said any event in South Africa was a home race, but the quality of the domestic racing teams would ensure a competitive event.
“We have not taken part in the Cycle Tour as a team before – one of the biggest events in the country,” he said.
“We have a full European racing season ahead of us, but racing on African soil in front of our most loyal team supporters is always exciting.”
Campbell said the Dimension Data Continental team would go all out to win.
They do not have a pure sprinter on their roster this year, but they have some of Africa’s most talented young cyclists.
“We have Ethiopian, Rwandan and Moroccan riders, along with three SA riders.
“We will need to race positively and try to turn the tables on some of the local teams that have plenty of experience competing in all the national events.”
Last year’s SA U23 champion, Stefan de Bod, is always highly motivated to perform well in SA and will be ably supported by Nicholas Dlamini, who is itching to make his mark on the national cycling scene.
Dimension Data Continental’s youngest member, Louis Visser, of Oudtshoorn, will also want to show that he is able to graduate from being a top junior rider to being a winning Elite racer.
“The Herald Continental Cycle Tour is one of the big events on the SA road cycling calendar.
“While we have been fortunate to compete in some high-profile events in Europe over the last few seasons, events like this are the races our young African riders first aspire to winning,” Campbell said.
“The huge number of entrants, the excitement of the spectators and supporters, and the prestige of possibly winning one of the top events in the country will always ensure that The Herald Continental Cycle Tour is a special event.”
Aidan van Niekerk, of Team LEAD-out Aspire, said his crew relished every opportunity to race their bikes, and the Cycle Tour offered an excellent opportunity to do this.
Competitors can expect to see a lot of attacks off the front of the bunch.
They pride themselves on constantly being seen in breakaways, so look out for a lot of aggressive racing coming from all the riders on the team.
“Our most experienced rider, Morne van Niekerk, 21, is very popular as an U23 national time trial champion and multiple national champion on the track,” Van Niekerk said.
“In addition, Ivan Venter lines up at the race as former gold medal winner in the Youth Olympics road race.”
Alphabody Worx, who are aiming for a podium finish, are predominantly an U23 team, so the focus is on improvement and development.
Manager Gerald Francis believes they have some of the best U23 riders in South Africa. However, he said they had a genuine leader in ex-Dimension Data rider Jayde Julius.
“He has lifted the profile of the team and the riders around him, indicative of two stage podiums at the recent Tour of Mpumalanga,” he said..
“We have since signed Shameeg Salie, also an ex-Dimension Data rider.”
Other top teams out for top spots are Team Telkom, Team Giant, Road Cover and Bestmed ASG Women’s Team.