The Cape Town-based Kinetic Cycling Club has taken a step up and registered a professional team for the 2019 season, chairman and director O’Ryan Bruintjies announced today.
The team, known as Kinetic Pro Cycling, has eight members, including elite riders Carl Bonthuys, Vuyo Mavuya and Imtiyaaz van der Hoven.
Under-23 riders Wynand Hofmeyr, Vuyolwethu Nkomo and Ben Fish, as well as juniors Jonathan Bouwer and Matthew Fortuin also form part of the set-up. Glen Bonthuys will serve as the team’s manager and coach and Barry Austin the high performance adviser.
Members of the Kinetic Pro Cycling team pictured at their recent training camp. Photo: Supplied
The club had a highly successful season last year. It had a strong presence at the WP track champs and the national road and track champs in all age-groups.
Bruintjies, along with co-directors Justin Bouwer and Rodney Pedro, decided about a month ago to establish a professional arm to the club.
“There aren’t too many pro teams on the circuit in South Africa at the moment,” Bruintjies told In the Bunch today.
“We just wanted to take the club to the next level where we’ll create a platform and opportunity for these talented youngsters to race against the best in the country.
“We decided we can’t wait for people to knock on our door [anymore]. Whenever there’s an opening in a pro team our talented riders are usually overlooked.”
They managed to secure funding and sponsorships and had registered the team with the sport’s governing body, Cycling South Africa, he said.
The team is registered as a non-profit organisation and will operate as a separate legal entity from the club.
Bruintjies said they held a training camp about three weeks ago to which 12 prospective riders were invited. They then narrowed the team down to eight.
“We didn’t only invite youngsters from Kinetic, but also from different clubs in the Western Cape.”
The club had strict development objectives, Bruintjies said. “The team will consist of 75 per cent previously disadvantaged [PDI] riders.
“For example, six of the eight riders [chosen] were previously disadvantaged.”
The goal of the team would be to develop young riders to ultimately race in Europe and possibly at WorldTour level, he said.
Bruintjies said they had “big dreams” and hoped to register the team with Continental status next year or in 2021.
This year the team intend entering prominent SA races including the Herald Cycle Tour, Tour of Good Hope, Amashova Durban Classic and 947 Cycle Challenge.
They will also take part in all the Pedal Power Association (PPA) events and Western Cape League races.
They made their debut at the first PPA Sportive series event in Simonsvlei last weekend where Hofmeyr was their highest-place rider, finishing fifth.
