South African road cyclist Travis Barrett has his sights set on securing victory in the 97km Fast One road race tomorrow.
The 20-year-old said after last year’s close finish behind Steven van Heerden he hoped to take the win this year.
“Last year’s race played out perfectly for the team with three of our riders getting into the breakaway of the day, me being one of them.
“In the last kilometres of the race last year my teammate Dylan Girdlestone put in a late attack, forcing the other riders to chase him down.
“This put me in the ideal situation to sit on and use the other riders as my lead-out for the finish.
“The race was so close between myself and Steven, so it would be nice to go one step further this year and take the win.
“We have a full squad of riders racing this weekend, so racing together will be extremely important if we want to get a good result for the team,” Barrett told In the Bunch.
South African road cyclist Travis Barrett has his sights set on securing victory in the 65km Fast One road-race tomorrow. Photo: Megan Barrett
Barrett said that because there was no Mpumalanga Tour this year he had had to prepare a little differently for the beginning of the season over December.
“I race every race with the intention to get the best result possible, and for a younger rider like myself good results consistently among races are always important for our careers.
“After placing third at the provincial champs last weekend I’m fairly happy with where my form is currently and I don’t think I’m far off of where I was for last year’s Fast One.
“All of my preparations since the off season have been based around the upcoming SA champs in a few weeks as well as the Tour of Good Hope, which is also fast approaching. So my main focus will be on those two events in the upcoming weeks,” said Barrett.
Barrett said he and his team would be hoping for wind tomorrow to give them an advantage on the route.
“The route is usually a fast and flat one, and the finish is also usually a sprint between a few riders, which suits me.
“The fast and flat races are often dictated by the wind. I know myself along with the rest of my team will be hoping for a windy day out to really make the racing as hard as possible for the other riders,” explained Barrett.
He said his team was excited about the addition of Ryan Terry to the team.
“Ryan has had some good results over the years, with quite a bit of international racing experience, so he will definitely add value to our team and hopefully we can also help him get some good results this year.
“This weekend’s Fast One will be the first time he races alongside the rest of the team, so we’re all excited to get racing together with a full squad.”
