Daryl Impey, last year’s South Africa National Road time trial champion, is confident of defending his title when he competes in the 43.8km trial in Oudtshoorn tomorrow.
Impey, who recently made SA cycling history by winning the Tour Down Under, beat Willie Smit and road race champion Reinhardt Janse van Rensburg in the time trial last year.
“I obviously want to win it again this year,” Impey told In the Bunch today. “It’s not an option to come second; my objective is to defend my title.”
Daryl Impey pictured here during the 2017 SA National Road Championships in Wellington last year. Photo: DoubleST
The route, which starts and finishes at the SWD cricket grounds and takes riders in and around Oudtshoorn, should not pose much difficulty, Impey added.
“The time trial route will be pretty straight forward,” he said. “There won’t be much difficulty; it looks really flat.
“It’s a course that should suit me, so I’m happy with the route that’s been set out.”
The weather conditions, said Impey, would be the only real “decisive factor”.
“The wind and the heat could be a big factor,” he said. “Different riders riding at different times may be affected by changing weather conditions.
“It will be important to pace myself properly in the right areas of the route.
