KZN’s Frances Janse van Rensburg, riding in her first national road championship event, claimed the U19 time trial title at the SA Youth Road Cycling Championships in Camperdown, KwaZulu-Natal, on Saturday morning.
Van Rensburg beat Kelsey Jade van Schoor by 13 seconds over the 11,8km course, admitting afterwards that she was a bit surprised to find herself on the top step of the podium, wearing a brand new South African Champion’s jersey.
“I did not expect it,” said Van Rensburg shortly after the prizegiving ceremony. “It was my first time doing a national time trial event – I do not even have a proper time trial bike.
“It was a very, very hard course – it was short and very fast. I really had to dig deep at times out there.”
Road Race Gold Lies Awaiting on Sunday
On Sunday Van Rensburg will have another opportunity to claim a national title in the road race, which takes place on the M13 in Westville. And once again the KwaZulu-Natal local will be looking to win on debut.
“It is also my first time doing a national road race tomorrow, so we will have to see how it goes. I am a mountain biker and I only started to do some road last year, but I am really enjoying it.”
Van Schoor must be feeling like a perennial bridesmaid after her runner-up finish gave her a third U19 National Championship silver medal. Last year she was second in both the road race and the time trial, and must be desperately hoping she can go one position better on Sunday.
Olivier Cliaims U17 Jersey, Uys Sisters Ace U15 and U13 Titles
Chante Olivier took gold with a time of 17.45 in the Under 17 Girls division, comfortably ahead of a chasing pack of four which saw Chloe Bateson edge her competitors for silver.
There was double glory for the Uys family from Gauteng with Kita claiming the gold medal in the U15 girls’ race, a few minutes after her sister Kyla had been crowned the U13 champion.
Kyla was a big winner in her event, beating Mina van der Walt by 97 seconds in the U13 race, but things were much closer for Kita who ended up just seven seconds ahead of Jessie Munton in the U15 age group.
Girls and Women’s Full Results at the SA Youth Road Cycling Championships in Camperdown, KwaZulu-Natal, on Saturday, 22 June:
Under 13 Girls:
1 Kyla Uys 14.14
2 Mina Van Der Walt 15.51
3 Danel De Jager 15.51
4 Jana Van Der Walt 16.28
5 Hannah Cairns 19.38
Under 15 Girls:
1 Kita Uys 16.49
2 Jessie Munton 16.56
3 Mienke Boshoff 18.17
4 Chanica Botes 19.43
5 Makayla Saville 19.47
Under 17 Girls:
1 Chante Olivier 17.45
2 Chloe Bateson 18.19
3 Chante Oosthuizen 18.28
4 Sonica Klopper 18.42
5 Caitlin Thompson 19.38
Under 19 Women:
1 Frances Janse Van Rensburg 18.03
2 Kelsey Jade Van Schoor 18.16
3 Sophia Friedrich 18.49
4 Mischka Strydom 18.55
5 Charlissa Schultz 19.13
Photo 1 Caption: Frances Janse van Rensburg was a popular home-province winner of the U19 women’s Time Trial at the 2019 SA Youth Road Cycling National Championships. Photo: Gavin Ryan
Photo 2 Caption: Chante Olivier won the U17 girls Time Trial at the 2019 SA Youth Road Cycling National Championships. Photo: Tim Whitfield / Sports Wrighte
Photo 3 Caption: Sisters Kyla (left) and Kita Uys brought double glory to their family when they won the South African title at the U13 and U15 girls Time Trial races respectively at the 2019 SA Youth Road Cycling National Championships. Photo: Tim Whitfield / Sports Wrighte
With editing by gsport
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