Defending champion Kim le Court will be looking for a second title when the Emperors Palace Classic road race takes place in Kempton Park, Johannesburg, on Sunday.
The Demacon rider said it was a race she would like to win again, but she also viewed it as more of a training experience.
“The first feeling you get when you go into a race where you’re the defending champion is to win it. You want to be the champion again, but it depends on how the team feels and what the tactics are.
Demacon’s Kim le Court, who will defend her title at Sunday’s Emperors Palace Classic road race, celebrates as she wins the Cape Town Cycle Tour. Photo: Chris Hitchcock
“At the same time, I don’t want to get injured and crash because I’m flying to the Commonwealth Games soon,” said Le Court, who will line up for the 98km feature race.
In order to achieve a good result in the race, Le Court said, communication was key.
“Throughout the race it will be important to trust each other and to communicate, no matter what.”
She added that she had only done the race once before and last year she was lucky to break away from the other riders.
“I’m not too familiar with the route; I only know that the finish is kind of a drag. I rode away with Samantha [Sanders] last year and I was focusing too much on her back wheel rather than the route, but I was lucky to eventually get away to cross the finish line first.”
The Mauritian rider said her recent Cape Town Cycle Tour win was a much-needed confidence booster after performances that were not up to her usual standard.
“It was one of my biggest goals and definitely a boost for me. I haven’t won in a while and I went to races to ride for my teammates, because I wasn’t feeling ready to perform like I should.”
Her first race of the season was the Fast One where she finished in sixth place, which was not her goal.
“My goal was to get to the finish line on the top step, so I wasn’t expecting to be this bad. But in a way I knew I would because I only started my training late.
“I also went into a big training camp session where it was too much too quick, and I injured my knee for a while.”
All in all, she said she felt stronger now, after the Cape Town Cycle Tour, and that she was still climbing the ladder towards next month’s Commonwealth Games.
“I’m feeling physically and mentally ready for Emperors. The Cape Town Cycle Tour gave me a lot of confidence and brought confidence back into me.”
