Team South Africa dominated the first day of the 2015 Confederation of African Cycling Road Championships in Wartburg today, claiming all but one of the gold medals handed out during the various Team Time Trial events.
The Confederation of African Cycling African Road Championships kicked off with the Team Time Trial event and the South African Elite Ladies team coasted to victory by a substantial margin on Monday. photo: craigdutton.com
The day started with the Junior Women and the title was won by the South African team of four although, while the Junior Men’s race was also dominated by the hosts as they powered to a victory over the Morroccan and Namibian teams.
In the elite events South Africa claimed the gold in the women’s race and recently crowned National Time Trial Champion Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio was happy with the performance despite the ladies never having ridden together in a team time trial before.
It was the Eritrean Elite Men’s team that produced the strongest ride in their category to beat the more fancied South African team of four to the title and Team MTN-Qhubeka’s Merhawi Kudus was elated with his team’s effort in the hot conditions.
The South African team was disappointed they were unable to win the gold medal and Louis Meintjes was quick to point out that they are professional riders so travel is no excuse for not winning.
“Let’s hope that the rest of the week goes better and we can win some medals for South Africa,” said Meintjes.
The Tuesday schedule at the African Continental Road Championships will commence with the individual time trials for the Junior Men and Women starting at 09:30am.
Visit Confederation of African Cycling Road Championships for more results.
