Hazel Magill is in positive mode after winning the 90km Durbie Dash Road Race in Cape Town at the weekend, the good result coming towards the end of what has been a tumultuous year for her.
Magill, 23, formerly rode for Bestmed-ASG before she and Maroesjka Matthee started Team Ciovita at the beginning of the year.
But the year would bring double tragedy for her. First her brother was knocked off his bike and fell into a coma in May, then her father passed away in June.
“My brother is currently still in a coma. It’s been pretty rough and tough [to deal with],” Magill told In the Bunch today.
“But I managed to kind of turn that all around and I think I’m at quite a good level now.
“I used that [the hardships] to try motivating myself and I feel like it’s all starting to come together,” she said, adding that she would be returning to Belgium in due course to participate in cyclo-cross races.
Hazel Magill (pictured) is in positive mode after winning the 90km Durbie Dash Road Race in Cape Town at the weekend, the good result coming towards the end of what has been a tumultuous year for her. Photo: Supplied
Magill raced in Europe from the end of May until September this year, during which she participated in two cyclo-cross events and was “picked up by a team”.
After observing the South African women’s cycling landscape, Magill and Matthee decided to start the Cape Town-based Ciovita team.
The team consists of Magill, Matthee, Ashleigh Parsons and Elne Owen.
“There are not enough women teams in South Africa to make it competitive,” she said.
“There are literally one, maybe two teams that are dominating everything, which is preventing the sport from evolving or developing.
“We then decided that instead of joining another team we would rather create one.”
She said everything in the team was self-funded, but they “keep each other going”.
“We’re a happy team and that’s all that matters. We get many podiums and we’re kind of hoping to make women’s cycling more competitive. That’s the idea.”
Therefore she felt it fitting that they had two elites in the team in herself and Matthee, one under-23 rider in Owen and one junior in Parsons.
“Our top priority this year was to get through the season while doing all the A-graded races we could afford and to keep the spirits high.
“We obviously wanted to get results as well, which I think we accomplished. We also got the opportunity to go to Europe.”
The whole team went to Europe, she said, and they all benefited.
“We all grew a little in our own way, so I thought that was a very good thing.”
She said everything in the team “just clicks”.
“We’re able to communicate very well and that’s one of the main things you need in a team.
“We all gel well [with each other] and that makes a good all-round team.
“I love my teammates and they have also been very supportive.”
She said looking ahead she would try to prioritise her family, saying it was currently “difficult to be away from my mom and brother”.
“But my mom still wants me to go out and do what I want to do. I can’t really do much because my brother is still in a coma.
“I just have to be patient and do as much as I can so that when he wakes up I can tell him all the things I’ve done and where I’ve gone.”
