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CORONATION DOUBLE CENTURY
The 202km Coronation Double Century ( CDC ), held in Swellendam in the Cape , is one of the world ’ s biggest team trials , and the 2016 edition saw Nic White and his Road Cover Cycling Team convincingly outperform Alpha Bodyworks and Active Bodies to win the race . The Road Cover team featured imports Louis Meintjes of Team Lampre-Merida and 2016 ’ s 94.7 Cycle Challenge winner , Brendon Davids , along with team regulars such as Willie Smit and Clint Hendricks . The team set a fast pace right from the start and posted the winning time of 4:42:23 , ahead of Alpha Bodyworks ( 4:55:14 ), who onky just narrowly beat third-placed Active Bodie by two seconds !
Images : Tobias Ginsberg & Courtesy Dimension Data , An-Li Kachelhoffer , Double Century & Cycling SA
DIMENSION DATA REVEALS NEW 2017 KIT
After a highly successful 2016 season , Johannesburg-based Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka was in Cape Town at the end of November to launch their new racing kit for the 2017 season and to introduce all 28 riders in the team to the fans and media . The team enjoyed its best season to date , winning 32 races and having riders on the podium more than 70 times . They finished the Tour de France with five stage wins , a Yellow Jersey and a Green Jersey , plus the team ’ s first ever win in a special category at the Grand Tour , taking home the Best Climber classification of the Vuelta a Espana . The leaders for the 2017 team will be Mark Cavendish , Omar Fraile and Daniel Teklehaimanot .
OLYMPIAN SWITCHES FOCUS TO TOURS
Olympian , Cape Town Cycle Tour and National Road Champion An-Li Kachelhoffer has her sights firmly set on conquering the Bestmed Tour of Good Hope in March of 2017 . The 29-year-old cyclist , who will be officially linking up with Team Bestmed-ASG from January 2017 , says that she is keen to target stage races this coming year . The five-day Tour of Good Hope takes place over a 490km course through the Cape Winelands and starts on 6 March , and this will be An- Li ’ s first attempt at a stage race tour . Bestmed-ASG Team manager Owen Botha says , “ An-Li will bring a wealth of knowledge to the team , which bodes well for the younger riders . There is massive respect for her in the cycling community .”
In the women ’ s race , three-time defending champs Velocity Sports Lab 1 calimed a fourth win in 5:51:50 , with Cycle Nation second in 5:56:35 , followed by Tiletoria Train ( 6:08:17 ). The CDC traditionally sees top riders from around the country invited to race in composite teams , but the event also enjoys great popularity amongst the fun riders in the cycling community , who come out not only to enjoy the scenery and camaraderie of finishing such a big endurance challenge , but also to be part of the incredible atmosphere in Swellendam after the race .
LOOSER & GIGER CROWNED FNB W2W MTB CHAMPIONS
Team Kross Bikes BiXS Pro ’ s Konny Looser and Fabian Giger smashed the final 69km stage of the FNB Wines2Whales Mountain Bike Race on Sunday 13 November to secure the overall team title in an impressive combined time of 8:03:50 after three days of racing . Overnight leaders Christoph Sauser and Sam Gaze ( Team Investec- Songo-Specialized ) had a bad day in the office and fell back to eighth overall , with second overall going to Team Telkom ’ s Hendrik Kruger and Johann Rabie . In the women ’ s race , Team Ascendis Health ’ s Robyn De Groot and Jennie Stenerhag secured their second stage victory and the overall women ’ s title , ahead of Ariane Kleinhans and Cherie Redecker ( Team Spur ). Meanwhile , the mixed team title went to a dominant combination of Martin and Jeannie Dreyer ( Team Merchants ), Team SAICA Global Asp ’ s Ila Stow and Marc Wells securing the second spot . The three stages of the events comprised distances of 68 , 64 and 69km
KZN Government and Pietermaritzburg Honored for Sport ’ s Development
The Confederation of African Cycling ( CAC ) President ’ s Friends of Africa Award was recently awarded to The KwaZulu-Natal Government and the Msunduzi Municipality for their contribution to the development of the sport of cycling in South Africa and on the African continent . Since 2009 , Pietermaritzburg has been recognised as Africa ’ s Bike City and is one of only three UCI Bike City ’ s in the world , along with Copenhagen for Europe and Melbourne for Australasia . In this time , the major international events that have been staged in the city and surrounding region include two Continental Championships as well as 10 UCI World Cup events and five UCI World Championships in different disciplines . In fact , Pietermaritzburg has staged the most different cycling World Cups and World Championships anywhere in the world !
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