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Planning Your Season

26/6/2020

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Most cyclists don’t consciously “select” a training system… it just happens…
They jump on their bike every day then based on how they feel they “decide” just what training they should do. This could be a 60min time trial, or a group ride with their mates… usually letting the senior riders dictate the days workout… sound familiar?
For the record… this is NOT the way to achieve your true potential as a bike racer.
 
In truth, there are three different training systems, namely “racing into shape”, the “always fit” method and “periodization".
​Periodization can be broken down still further however for the purpose of this article we will stick to the "classic" periodization model.
 
The “Race into shape” method:
This is the most common training system used by cyclists as it’s easy to do…

Step 1 involves building a large aerobic base by pedaling around 1500km – 2000km at an easy pace. While this amount of “easy” riding works, in truth for some it’s simply too much while for others it’s just not enough…

Step 2 involves racing every weekend and getting in a mid-week race (if available) or a hard group ride. The result will be a higher level of fitness…

There are some good reasons to use this method of training, the most important being that the fitness gained is specific to the demands of racing.

Training this way however is unpredictable as there is no planned rest and as a result overtraining can occur.
 
The “Always fit” method:
In warm climates cyclists often try to stay in race-shape through the year. The cooler weather and frequent races through-out winter entice them to keep a constant level of fitness by doing the same training riding week in and week out.

The greatest issue facing this type of athlete is boredom and burnout. Burnout is not a pretty sight. All interest in training, racing and life in general goes for a “ball”…

Another problem has to do with physiology as after about 12 weeks of training the same way, improvements seem to plateau… since fitness is never static, if you are not improving you must be getting worse!!!
 
The “Periodization” method:
This is the system used by most successful athletes today.

The basic principal of all periodization programs is that training should progress from general to specific.
Yes, periodization means more than simply training more specifically. It also involves arranging your workouts in such a way that the elements of fitness achieved earlier in your training are maintained while new ones are addressed and improved. This modular approach to training means making small adjustments in your workouts every 4-8 weeks.

Flexibility of training or the lack of it may be the biggest obstacle facing a cyclist using periodization as successful periodization requires flexibility.

The language of periodization seems to confuse many; however the following are the terms that I like to use as these are the terms made popular by the likes of Joe Friel, Hunter Allen and Dr Andy Coggan amongst others…
The terms are as follows: Preparation Phase, Base Phase, Build Phase, Peak Phase, Race Phase and finally the Transition Phase.
 
Training Phases:
Trying to improve all aspects of training at once is simply not possible hence the need to break your training down into manageable “phases” as indicated above.
The elements common to most periodization plans are increased volume at the start of the training season followed by increased intensity as the volume decreases.
 
Preparation Phase:
This phase generally marks the start of your training year and is included only if there has been a long transition following the end of your previous Race Phase.
The purpose here is to prepare your body for the next phase of your training plan. Workouts are low intensity with an emphasis on aerobic endurance, especially in the form of cross-training.
The total volume of training is low when compared with most other training phases.
Speed skills can be developed through drills, usually done on an indoor training or a set of rollers.
 
Base Phase:
The Base phase is your time to establish your basic fitness abilities of endurance, force, and speed skills. Generally, this is also the longest phase of your season and should last around eight to twelve weeks.
The base phase is divided into three segments: Base 1, Base 2 and Base 3.

Base 1 marks the start of steady increases in volume to boost your aerobic endurance and increase your body’s resilience to handle larger training loads.

In Base 2, on-bike endurance work begins to replace cross-training as the training volume increases. As your road rides become longer, the companionship of a group helps to pass the time. Just make sure that you ride with a group that rides at YOUR required pace and does not turn every ride into a “race”.

The majority of your road rides should be on continuously rolling to hilly routes that place controlled stress on your neuromuscular system. The best routes at this time of the season keep your efforts below threshold and allow cadences of around 80rpm and higher while seated on a hill.

Muscular-endurance training is also introduced in Base 2, with the addition of Tempo workouts based on hear rate or power output.

Base 3 marks a phasing-in of higher intensity training with the introduction of some proper hill work done at or slightly above threshold. Base 3 also brings about your highest total weekly volume of training with aerobic rides accounting for more than half of your training time. By the way, your longest training rides should now be as long as your longest race of the season, or two hours… whichever is the longer…

Group rides are still the best way to get the miles in but while it’s ok to occasionally put the hammer down in a sprint, just make sure you don’t turn these rides into “races”!!!

Your purpose now is to get as fast as you can with low-effort rides before turning up the heat in you Build phase.
By now, several weekly workouts should now have you riding at threshold, while your Speed-skills work is done mostly as “Form Sprints” on the road.
 
Build Phase:
Anaerobic-endurance is now introduced in your Build phase and just with force, hill work, and muscular-endurance training, this should be done with caution to avoid injury.

Feel free to race during this phase of your training, but remember that these are low priority races and you should regard them as a substitute for some of your anaerobic-endurance workouts. Anaerobic-endurance workouts may also include intervals and fast group rides.

During Build 1, endurance work is reduced but is still a prominent focus of your training. You would be better off by doing your long easy endurance rides at this stage with one or two team mates or training partners rather than a large group. Use the group rides for the development of muscular-endurance and anaerobic-endurance.

In Build 2 you again slightly decrease the volume of your training while increasing the intensity. Training in Build 2 emphasizes intensity to a greater extent than in the previous four weeks. Anaerobic-endurance and muscular-endurance sessions become longer while recovery is decreased between your efforts. 
 
Peak Phase:
Now is the time you consolidate your racing fitness. It’s time to reduce your volume and keep intensity levels high relative to your expected demands of your targeted races while emphasizing recovery between workouts. Ideally you would want to train at race-pace intensity every 72-96hrs.

These workouts may also include “B” or “C” priority races that serve as a tune-up for the “A” races that follow.
 The purpose of periodization is to reach peak form just as the important races occur.
 
Race Phase:
Whoop, Whoop… this is the FUN TIME!!!! Now all that is needed is to race, work on your strengths and recover…
In weeks where there are no races, a race-effort group ride is the best option.

Until now you have been working on your “limiting factors”, now it’s time to improve your strengths, so make them as strong as possible!!!
 
Transition Phase:
Your transition phase is a time for rest and recovery following your race phase. This should always be included after your last race for the season, but may also be inserted early on in your season following your first Peak phase to help prevent burnout later in the year.

Early season Transition phases may be brief periods of perhaps five to seven days, while at the end of your season such a break may be four weeks or so.
 
Use this time to “recharge your batteries” for your training and racing to come….
 
Remember, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it!”
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Coming out of Covid

12/5/2020

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Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined pretty much the entire world would be forced into lockdown. That sort of carry on only ever happens in Hollywood, right? … Wrong,  2020 took care of that!!!

For the majority of us, our training has been limited to indoors, for others limited outdoor training has been allowed provided we remained within our bubbles and geographical region.

At this point in time racing and events in general are pretty much on a wait and see basis. 
Not ideal for you as an athlete or for your coach as training with a plan is always the best way to achieve those results.

Now that I have gotten the doom and gloom out of the way, there does appear to be some light at the end of the tunnel. Restrictions in parts of the world are starting to lift and hopefully sooner rather than later the world will be returning to a new normal. 

With this in mind, as an athlete you need to start thinking about your training not only going forward but just as importantly what have you been able to achieve whilst still in lockdown? 

I was amazed at the incredible rides athletes were able to achieve indoors and while I can't really agree with the logic behind them I do tip my hat in admiration. I guess it's fair to say mental toughness has been taken to new heights. I was also taken back by the amount of intensity so many riders were training at day after day. All I can really say to this is as with most things in life, moderation is almost always the best approach.

​If you are lucky enough to have some indication when your racing is likely to resume I would highly recommend adjusting your training accordingly. Now is the perfect time to chat with your coach and get the remainder of the season dialed in.

If you have not yet made the commitment to getting a coach another option could be to purchase an online training plan. Again, think about what your training has been like over the past month or two, then decide on what you are expecting to achieve on the bike and choose a suitable plan that will help you achieve that.

As a small token of our appreciation to our athletes and friends we would like to offer a 15% discount on all our online training plans purchased from now until the end June 2020. Simply use the discount code Covid.
​
Stay safe and happy training. 
Training Plans
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Benchmark Elite Series Round # 4

17/8/2013

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What a day, Hokitika really turned it on for Round 4 of the Benchmark series. 
Driving over to the coast on Friday afternoon it did not look like the
weather was going to be that great for race day.  It rained in true West Coast fashion,
it was tipping down, then a few dry spells then down the rain came again.
Oh well it will be what it will be.  

Once everyone arrived we all went out for tea and talked tactics, Nadine & I discussed where we would run in the morning, we need to get our training in but we could not interest Richard in getting up to join us.  Richard was team mechanic and feed man. 
Nadine was in charge of the tweeting while Mary was behind the wheel of the mighty R8!

Nadine & I got back from our run and told the boys that it was going to be a beautiful day.  The boys got fuelled up with breakfast and lots of nervous talk.   The support crew went off to the Race Start to get numbers, attend the Manager’s race brief and of course the all important support crew coffee, yet again Nadine gets stuck with ordering Mary’s special latte with marshmallows, kudos to Richard for having cash to buy coffees for the girls! 

Numbers are pinned on to riders, spare wheels put into neutral support vehicle, group
  hug, yeah nah, group photo and team High5CFO are lined up ready to race. 

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The support crew get their spot in the convoy and we are off.  

One of the checks we got only a few kms into the race was that one of our riders was off the front we were excited about that. Having misplaced our rider list it took us awhile to work out that it was Stu!

Darrell punctured which was bad luck, Darrell has had a lot of good luck on this course so it was a shame that he punctured at the start of the Blue Spur loop as it is near impossible to get back into the race.

 Next casualty was Geoff who suffered cramp but there was nothing we could do. Is there anything more painful than watching someone cramp each time they try and swing their leg back over their bike? The three of us in the car were feeling the pain! 
It is always hard to leave the riders and move on to take care of the
ones still in the race.


Next team rider to get dropped was Wayne, he got dropped off a couple of times and
fought his way back. Luckily there seemed to be a small group yo-yo’ing off the
back together so he had company to assist with getting back on. Wayne was not that confident with his form
heading into this race but he did pretty good for someone who reckoned they were
not fit.  The good news is that he has now got the motivation back to start training and
racing.

Scott was the next rider we had to drive past,  coming down onto the flat before we hit the Main Highway Scott was in a bunch that past the convoy,  Scott was pretty chuffed
to be in a position to pass the team car made a change from being past and left
behind.

Heath & Stu were still in the bunch then Stu made a break and we get called up to cover the two riders chasing the break.  Scott & his bunch managed to make contact with the peleton. 

Well I can tell you it was like old times being at the front end of the race this was awesome.  Stu got 3rd so there were
lots of sweaty hugs for the team.

If you want to catch all the updates that we tweeted from the race then check out: https://twitter.com/TourAlps
The tweets fed directly into the "coveritlive" news feed on the race website.

A very good result for the team next race is Queenstown the course will more than likely be to Glenorchy and back finishing at Moke Lake which is a brutal hill top finish.
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Race report by Mary & Nadine...
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Girdlestone seals 2nd Jock title

22/7/2013

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Dylan Girdlestone sealed his second overall victory in the 151km Bestmed Jock  Cycle Classique in a dramatic two-man sprint in the third and final stage at Mbombela in Mpumalanga on Saturday.    
 
In the dash to the line, the Westvaal-BMC rider got the better of  MTN-Qhubeka’s Ethiopian climber Alem Grmay to steal the stage and overall wins by a single second.

After a series of well-timed attacks by Girdlestone,
the two broke clear of the group containing the main contenders in sight of the finish at the Mbombela Stadium.

The 23-year-old from Pretoria completed the 30th edition of what is believed to be South Africa’s toughest road race in
a combined time of 3:43:02. Westvaal’s Nico Bell secured the final step on the podium in 3:43:12.

“It feels just as good as the first time I won it,”
said an elated Girdlestone. “I’ve always put the Jock down as one of my goal races because it suits me really well. “This year’s route was very much  like the old one in that you have a hard final stage with a tough last few  kilometres.

“The trick is to stay protected and if you’ve had the easiest ride there, you’ll have the most power – which is exactly what
happened.”

Although Girdlestone’s small five-man outfit was without the services of Tyler and Dusty Day, he said they had raced tactically to be able to compete against the numerically superior teams.

“The plan was for my team-mates to have an easy ride in the first two stages. I said, ‘You can drop  off, just don’t get eliminated’.

“So we went into the last stage all guns  blazing.”

Team Abantu sprinter Nolan Hoffman took the day’s first yellow jersey when he came out tops in a bunch sprint in the 43km opening stage between Mbombela, formerly Nelspruit, and White River.

Hoffman crossed the line in 1:05:08 to edge ahead of MTN-Qhubeka’s Ryan Gibbons and team-mate David Maree.

On stage two, a grippy 45km ride from White River to Sabie, Grmay and team-mate Yohans Getachew took advantage of an early attack by Europcar’s Paul van Zweel to forge ahead of the front group over the steep 7km Spitskop climb.

They were reeled in less than a kilometre from the finish by a four-man chase group consisting of Bonitas’s Willie Smit, MTN-Qhubeka’s Nicolas Dougall, Van Zweel and Girdlestone.

Grmay held on for the win ahead of Smit and Dougall as the front-runners were all credited with a time of 1:09:40.
With Hoffman distanced on the climbs, yellow went to Smit.

With time gaps almost negligible, it all came down to the 63km final stage between Sabie and Mbombela, which included an 8km ascent of the iconic Long Tom Pass.

Girdlestone, who won the final stage of the Mzansi Tour earlier this year, said the win had given the team renewed confidence ahead of next  month’s Clover Lowveld Tour.

OVERALL RESULTS
Elite Men

1. Dylan Girdlestone (Westvaal-BMC) 3:43:02
2. Alem Grmay (MTN-Qhubeka) 3:43:03
3. Nico Bell (Westvaal/Bell’s Cycling) 3:43:12
4. Nicolas Dougall (MTN-Qhubeka) 3:43:12
5. Paul van Zweel (Europcar) 3:43:12
6. Kevin Patten (ASG) 3:43:22
7. Yohans Getachew (MTN-Qhubeka) 3:43:28
8. Willie Smit (Bonitas) 3:43:44
9. Ryan Gibbons (MTN-Qhubeka) 3:44:41
10. JJ van Wyk (MTN-Qhubeka) 3:44:46

Original post can be found here...


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Benchmark Homes Elite Series Round 3

23/5/2013

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The start in Hanmer...
Race morning came clear and crisp and full of expectation for
the guys, who were raring to go, the team kit looked really smart and they certainly stood out in the crowd!

There was a neutral ride until the main highway that gave the
lads a chance to warm up, and settle any nerves, with little wind the day was showing promise of being a fast one.  The peloton didn’t disappoint with the pace high right from the start, with an average of 44km. The guys put
in a solid show and were mixing it up with the best of them with a couple of the
team covering the breaks and maintaining a solid standing to give other
members a fighting chance in the later stages.  This solid effort in the first half of the race had an impact on the first couple of hills, when the first couple of riders dropped off the bunch; however the fresher legs of the others allowed them to stay in there and keep the team in a strong standing.

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The hills certainly had an impact on the peloton which was now
split into two sizable groups, in the chase group we had a strong showing and were still pushing hard.  The substantial hills through the mid section made for a climbers dream and started to splinter the riders further.  The
team was split up into smaller groups but kept pushing through the pain, and maintaining a good placing. Once the flatter areas arrived it showed off some of the team members strength at time trialling, the pace was on here! 
The first two to drop had regrouped and were powering away, picking up any stragglers along the way.  It was a proud moment at the finish as the whole team had made it across that brutal finish line, all with smiles on their faces.
 
As a diversified group of riders with limited experience the day
proved to be a good one, and they are starting to show some real grit and are
fired up and ready for stage 4.
 
A big thank you to our sponsors: 
             
Golden Homes             
CFO Services             
High 5             
Cycle Surgery            
Kings Electrical 
 
And to our team manager: Mary Jones, who is always there with
her unique style and tough love… couldn’t do it without you Mary.

Not to forget our support crew, Jos Rastrick, Jo Eckersley, Nadine Voice.  As partners and wives of the team your support on the day and during training is invaluable, thanks ladies

- Daniel McDonald

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South African's finish 1st and 2nd at UCI 2.2 Tour of Rwanda 2012

27/11/2012

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Cycling South Africa News


South African 1, 2 at Tour of Rwanda, Lill Takes the Tour Win

26 November 2012 – South Africa’s national road cycling team stuck to their game plan and claimed their first victory at the 2012 Tour of Rwanda when Darren Lill retained the yellow jersey after the seventh stage to claim the overall win with compatriot Dylan Girdlestone finishing in second place. The Tour of Rwanda ended on Sunday in Kigali with a stage of 124,3km.

After starting in Kigali nine days earlier, international teams toured the scenic and hilly Rwandan countryside to span 876 kilometres in total, starting with a Prologue on Sunday 18th November followed by eight stages.

For Lill, who was not feeling up to peak fitness prior to the Tour after recovering from a virus, the victory was a pleasant surprise.

“This was an unexpected win for me,” said the 30-year old from Cape Town. “I went as part of the team to help the younger guys, so to claim the overall victory has come as a surprise!”

Lill captained the 6-man national team to victory in his first Tour of Rwanda. “It was a good tour, with challenging stages, and great terrain, which made for positive racing. There is fantastic talent in Africa, but I think my experience in international racing, and being a mentor to my younger teammates gave our team the edge, especially when we cannot use race radios.”

National team manager for the Tour of Rwanda, Ian Goetham was supremely impressed with the team’s performance on his first international outing with the squad. “We had very good days that were well planned, and we succeeded,” said Goetham. “The team camaraderie was very high, and they all understood the goals of the tour. From stage one, the initial plan was to get the yellow jersey and win the tour.

“It was a brilliant team effort, with each one of the six riders contributing to the team’s success. An overall victory for Darren and a second place for Dylan is an excellent accomplishment. David (Maree) sacrificed a lot to work in front, and Avery (Arendse) and Reynard (Butler), both new to international racing, contributed a lot for us to keep the yellow jersey. Shaun (Ward) kicked off the tour with a stage in the yellow jersey [after his combined efforts of the Prologue and stage one, with Girdlestone only seven seconds behind in the GC at that point]. Darren was an excellent team leader.”

Further to holding the top two positions in the top ten of the final GC (general classification), South Africa also won the Team competition. “Considering that this team spends most of the year representing other teams within the country, they worked very well together as a unit. The quickest times of the top three riders in each stage resulted in a team win for us as well.”

Cycling SA’s road cycling director Hendrik Wagener was very pleased with the results. “We always hope for a win when we send a team to an international event. To have a first and second place in the final overall GC is a great achievement, and gives us a great base to build on in the early stages of our aim to take part in more African events, and of course, some valuable UCI points.”

Summary of Results – 2012 Tour of Rwanda – Overall GC
  1. LILL Darren (RSA) 22h43’41’’
  2. GIRDLESTONE Dylan (RSA) 22h45’28’’
  3. NJOROGE MUYA John (KENYA) 22h45’40’’
  4. ATSBHA Getachew (Ethiopia) 22h45’48’’
  5. DEBRETSION Aron (Eritrea) 22h46’40’’
  6. MERHAWI Kudus (UCC) 22h49’58’’
  7. LIPONNE Julien (Rein. Br.) 22h53’01’’
  8. ABEBE Alem (ETH) 22h53’34’’
  9. NIYONSHUTI Adrien (Rwanda Kalisimbi) 22h54’14’’
  10. HABTE Solomon (Eritrea) 22h54’39’’
For further information and results of the Tour of Rwanda, visit http://en.tourofrwanda.com/

ENDS

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Yunca Junior Tour of Southland 2012

6/10/2012

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Without doubt these were the worst race conditions I have ever seen.

Congrats to ALL riders who ventured out today even if you were forced to abandon.
A special mention should also go to the st John's medical service who were on hand to help warm some VERY cold riders...

Sitting in my car watching this stage the temperature never climbed above zero degree celcius...

holding thumbs for some better weather for the final two stages tomorrow... #respect
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Boonen and Omega Pharma - Quick Step celebrate after winning World TTT 2012

18/9/2012

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Second UWCT Final Gets Under Way in Pietermaritzburg

23/8/2012

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The roads in and around the city of Pietermaritzburg in South Africa will be
the reserve of the world’s best amateur cyclists over the four days of the 2012
UWCT Final.

 Some 500 athletes from 31 countries and all five continents will be racing in
the age-group time trials and road races from August 23rd to 26th.

In its second year, the UWCT (UCI World Cycling Tour) comprised 15 qualifying rounds which were held throughout the world, with the top 25% of each age-group of the qualifiers winning the right to line up for the final in Pietermaritzburg.

UCI Cycling for All Coordinator Andréa Marcellini says she is delighted with the momentum that the UWCT has gained in just two years of existence: “We launched the initiative in 2011 and were very pleased to have seven qualifying rounds, but this year the UWCT has exceeded expectations with 15 qualifying races.”

 She added that all the events on the UWCT calendar had met strict organisational, sporting and touristic criteria.

Some of the 2011 World Champions who won their rainbow jerseys in Stavelot, Belgium, last September, will be in Pietermaritzburg to defend their titles.

The fact that this year’s Final is being held in South Africa has also encouraged participation from African countries that were not present in Belgium, such as Lesotho, Mozambique and Namibia.

Pietermaritzburg has an extremely successful history in organising major international cycling events, which have included the 2010 UCI BMX World Championships, and several rounds of the UCI BMX World Cup and the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup. Next year it will be the venue of the UCI Mountain Bike & Trials World Championships and the UCI Masters Mountain Bike World Championships.

The 2012 UWCT Final is being staged under the auspices of Cycling South Africa. Event Director Alec Lenferna, of Real Events Management said: “Preparations for the event are very advanced and we are looking forward to welcoming athletes from all over the world. The city of Pietermaritzburg and its region has already shown on numerous occasions that we are able and willing to host major cycling events of this nature and to have the 2012 UWCT Final here is
another feather in our cap. We are thankful for the continued faith the UCI shows in us as an organising entity.”

He added that various city and provincial departments as well as a large number of volunteers had facilitated the organisation of the event.

Original article can be found here


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South Africa Announces Team For Worlds 2012

21/8/2012

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Cycling South Africa’s Road Cycling Commission has great pleasure in announcing that the following riders have been selected to represent South Africa at the 2012 UCI Road World Championships in Limburg, The Netherlands, taking place from 15 to 23 September.
 
The following riders have been selected according to
the 2012 Road Cycling Selection Criteria.

Elite Men:
Daryl Impey – road race
Jay Thomson – road race and time trial
Reinardt Janse van Rensburg – road race and time trial

U/23 Men:
Louis Meintjies –  road race and time trial

Junior Men:
Rohan du Plooy – road race and time trial
Ryan Gibbons – road race
Ryan Felgate – road race 
 
Elite Women:
Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio – road race
Cherise Stander – road race and time trial
Robyn de Groot – road race
Joanna van de Winkel – road race
Lise Olivier – road race
An-Li Pretorius – road race
 
Junior Women:
Heidi Dalton – road race and time trial 

View original article here



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