Leading professional cyclists Robyn de Groot and Vera Adrian are hoping a robust schools league will translate into significant growth in women’s mountain biking in South Africa.
While acknowledging the performances of accomplished competitors such as Candice Lill, Jennie Stenerhag, Mariske Strauss and Hannele Steyn, Adrian said women’s cycling “was nowhere compared to where it could be”.
“From my experiences, I would say that only a small portion, maybe 10 or 20 per cent, of the participants at mountain bike events are women,” she said.
The 23-year-old added that to develop the sport they needed a bigger field of competition.
Vera Adrian said she felt the women’s category of mountain biking could benefit from an increased field of competition. Photo: Ewald Sadie
“To grow the field will take time, but what I hope is that we’ll start to see some of the school-going kids coming through the ranks.
“For example, the schools league sees roughly 900 entrants and if just 10 per cent of those keep racing then we already have 90 extra competitors and that is just what we need.”
National marathon champion De Groot echoed her colleague’s sentiments, saying women’s cycling would benefit from a deeper pool of competitive riders.
“From my perspective I think we have definitely seen growth in terms of the level of racing and the numbers entering, but we still need more competitive women, and youngsters in particular,” said the Ascendis Health rider.
Robyn de Groot acknowledged there was much room for development within the youth categories. Photo: Zoon Cronje
The 34-year-old acknowledged there was much room for development within the youth categories and that access to the right resources was vital in encouraging this growth.
“For those wanting to become more competitive on the racing side then the correct coaching, training, bike set-up and nutritional advice is important,” she said.
“If avenues like these are opened for women to improve their skills and learn, I think that’s when we’ll really start to see a more noticeable improvement in the field.”
Adrian, who recently won sani2c, explained that the women’s fields had a tendency to fluctuate in the number of competitive entrants.
“Two good women teams are enough to make a competitive race and at this year’s sani2c there were four competitive women’s teams.
“That is not a lot but at least there was a race for a podium position.”
On a larger scale, events with UCI status, such as the Cape Epic, encouraged the international competition that De Groot felt was needed.
“Awarding a number of our marathon and stage races UCI status is really exciting for the development of our racing as it means we’ll see more world-class performances.
“If there are more UCI events in South Africa it can only be a good thing for our own industry.”
Although the growth hasn’t quite reached the level she’d like to see it at, the GR300 champion said the development over the years showed the sport was on the right track.
“If you look at the major mountain bike races on the calendar – the racing is tight and exciting, the following has grown and there is interest in our category from sponsors,” she said.
