Rickardo Broxham said he was honoured to be representing South Africa at the junior UCI Road World Championships which take place in Innsbruck, Austria, at the end of the month.
However the 18-year-old, riding in his last year as a junior cyclist, is not underestimating the challenge that awaits him.
Broxham has certainly made an impression this year, winning the SA national junior title in February before a successful stint in Europe.
He won a Belgian race in Jesseren, followed that up with the Junior Tour of Ireland title and then achieved some top results at the Junior Track World Championships a few weeks ago.
“I’m honoured to have been selected to represent my country once again,” Broxham told In the Bunch today.
“I’m really excited for the next few weeks in preparing for the world champs.”
Rickardo Broxham says he is honoured to be representing South Africa at the junior UCI Road World Championships at the end of the month. Photo: Stephen McMahon/Sportsfile
He admitted, however, that his “track legs” could slow him down on the climbs along the 138.4km route, including over 3 000m of ascent.
“I didn’t realise all the track training would have slowed me down this much,” he said.
“Most of the time track and road racing complement each other, specifically in flat races.
“But there’s still time left to hopefully translate my track form I recently had into what is needed on the road. Let’s hope it pays off; it’s the first time I’ve done this.
“I’m constantly learning and if I make a mistake then it’s just one of those things. We’ll see on race day how things play out.”
He described the course as “really brutal”, adding that it did not really suit him.
“For now I just want to get through as much as possible without losing too much power,” he said.
“I will perhaps look into getting into the early move, but I still haven’t really planned anything around it.”
Broxham said he prioritised the Irish tour and world track champs from the outset this year.
“Ireland was basically just preparation for track worlds. That went absolutely perfectly, but I don’t feel I’ve had the same form since then.
“I’m not at the top of my game at the moment but I’m definitely up there. It will just be another challenge in that there will 180 different riders to watch out for.
“There will definitely be a factor of luck.”
Cian Leveridge, turning 18 next week, will join Broxham in the South African fold and Broxham said either of them could make moves when the time was right.
“If the hammer goes down then each one of us will commit fully to each other,” he said.
“But it’s not an SA bunch, so it will be hard to stay together. The main goal will just be to stay in reach of one another in terms of communication.”
Broxham said he was “not too confident at this stage”, considering his recent tight training and racing schedule since before the track world champs.
“My schedule has just been so busy up until this point,” he said. “I will have a few easier weeks leading up to road worlds though.
“I am quite fatigued after a busy race programme, but sometimes you need fatigue to improve. Pain is gain in this game, so I’m sure it will turn around into fitness real soon.
“I just hope I get the timing spot on before race day.”
