Beauty and aggression is a dangerous combination on a bicycle, and Pick ‘n Pay 94.7 Cycle Challenge defending champion Yolandi du Toit (Konica-Minolta) is a good case in point.
The way in which Du Toit won last year’s Cycle Challenge will always be remembered as one of the most heroic rides by a South African woman, when she proved emphatically that a female cyclist can attack and ride out on her own for nearly 50km, and then still manage to hold on for the win.
"The Pick ‘n Pay 94.7 Cycle Challenge is one of the most exciting races in South Africa. I love the event," said an excited Du Toit this week.
"It’s really tough. If you are not riding uphill you’re going down, which means it’s a race where any rider with guts can win by riding aggressively. And that’s how I am going to race again on 18 November."
Asked who she regards as her main rivals this year, Du Toit immediately responds by saying she would be foolish to underestimate the Proline Team which consists of Anriëtte Schoeman, Marissa van der Merwe and Robin de Groot.
"Lynette Burger (Cycle Lab) is also always a factor and then there is Cherise Taylor. But I won’t mind if she beats me – we’re team-mates."
Du Toit, who is often compared to international tennis stars Maria Sharapova and Anna Kournikova, is not sure for which team she is going to ride next year, but she has three firm offers from Proline, MTN and Konica-Minolta.
"The deciding factor for me will be which one of the teams will allow me to go and race in Europe during the South African winter. As a cyclist I’ve got one goal and that is to win a medal for South Africa at the World Championships or Olympics. To achieve my goal I need to race in Europe. That’s only way I will get strong enough to beat the best," added du Toit.
After competing in Europe for most of the year, she readily admits that it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. "When I left for the first time to go and race in Europe I thought it was going to be like racing for a men’s team with a full-on pro salary. But that’s not the case. Only the world’s top 20 female cyclists can really make a living from cycling. For the rest of us it is a battle for survival.
"Most of the female cyclists have to hold down half day jobs to make ends meat. I raced for a Belgian team that paid most of my travelling expenses but nothing more. And then you race three to four times a week!
"A personal highlight was when I raced the Tour de Femme, which is the women’s version of the Tour de France. It’s undoubtedly one of the toughest tours I’ve ever competed in, even though we didn’t race in the Alps. What makes it hard is the length of the stages. Most days we were racing over a distance of 130km. There was even a stage that covered 160km!
"I didn’t have the best of luck in the Tour. I took two bad tumbles and in the second one I injured my knee too severely to be able to continue. It was really frustrating because there were only two stages left," concluded du Toit.
The 11th annual Pick ‘n Pay 94.7 Cycle Challenge takes place on Sunday, 18 November 2007, starting on Woodmead Drive, between Maxwell Drive and Steenberg Avenue in Woodmead, and finishing just outside the Waterfall Equestrian Estate, on Maxwell Drive.
As always, to ensure the safety of the thousands of riders participating, as well as the safety of spectators, motorists and residents, total road closure has been secured along the route for race day.
This is being undertaken by the City of Joburg, the Joburg Metropolitan Police Department, the Joburg Roads Agency and the Gauteng Department of Public Transport, Roads and Works.
A 
detailed Cycle Challenge route map 2.81 Mb, together with a list of road closures is available for download at this page.
All queries relating to the Pick ‘n Pay 94.7 Cycle Challenge and the associated road closures either before the event or on the day can be directed to the Call Center on 0862 947 947.
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