Bradley Potgieter is surprised, and ecstatic, following his late call-up to represent South Africa at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in Australia from April 4 to 15.
Potgieter and Nolan Hoffman both received call-ups yesterday following the fractured collarbone Willie Smit sustained at the Volta ao Algarve two weeks ago.
Bradley Potgieter, pictured here in South African colours, was ecstatic with his late call-up to represent SA at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games next month. Photo: Supplied
The two will represent SA on the road alongside Nicholas Dlamini, Clint Hendricks and Brendon Davids.
“I was a bit surprised with the call-up,” Potgieter told In the Bunch today. “I was first on the long list and then I made it onto the short list, but I did not make the selection when the team was first announced in January.
“I thought it was finalised, but then Willie’s injury happened and they [Sascoc] were forced to make late call-ups.”
Sascoc originally qualified six riders to go to Gold Coast, Potgieter said, but he did not think Smit “would have competed anyway”.
“Willie was already having doubts because he was rather planning to take part in the Amstel Gold Race in Netherlands [on April 15] for his team Katusha-Alpecin.
“But when I found out I was going I was super excited,” he said. “It is an incredible opportunity and it is probably one of my career highlights. I’m very happy.”
Dlamini recently won the King of the Mountains title at the Tour Down Under and Hendricks just last week won the Herald Cycle Tour Road Race, as well as earlier winning two stages of the Mpumalanga Tour.
Davids secured a top Aussie contract in November last year after his successes on the road. Six-time Herald and seven-time Paarl Boxing Day 25-mile champion Hoffman won the Fast One Cycle Race a month ago.
With this mix of talent Potgieter believes the SA team could perform well.
“We have a strong team, but we will just have to sit down and decide what the best strategy will be going forward. We have just under a month to go, so that will be important.
“With a strong team, we all have to make sure we work well together and ensure we’re all on the same page. That will give us the best opportunity to get a result.”
He will be there to receive and offer experience, Potgieter added. “I want to be strong enough to help out where I can.
“I am motivated this year. I’ve been getting decent results and I have been working hard since December. That is probably why I got shortlisted in the first place.
“Heading towards the Games, I will just have to change up my training. I need to focus on longer block rides, rather than double training each day.
“The race at the Games will be over 160km, so you cannot cheat that too much doing double sessions every time.”
