Frances Janse van Rensburg claimed both the U23 individual time-trial and road race titles at the SA national road champs at Swadini Forever Resort in Mpumalanga this weekend.
Frances Janse van Rensburg claimed both the U23 individual time-trial and road race titles at the SA national road champs at Swadini Forever Resort this weekend. Photo: QuickPix
Janse van Rensburg won the ITT on Thursday and came first in her category in today’s road race.
“I had my eye on the win, especially after the TT. To have pulled it off with the crash and things not going exactly according to plan I am so so happy and grateful.”
She said today’s 104km race was a very fast and flat one.
“On the first lap I crashed while going around the corner. It was raining a bit and the road was wet, so at that point I thought it was game over for me.
“The bunch attacked at that point, but I then just put my head down and chased back, working with another U23 rider and we managed to catch the bunch.”
Janse van Rensburg said in the following kilometres there were numerous attacks on the short climbs with riders trying to get away, but it did not last.
“Then on the last lap, with 10km to go, Ashleigh [Moolman Pasio] and Carla [Oberholzer] got away. I decided to give it all and managed to bridge back to them, also bringing a small bunch with me.
“So it came down to a bunch sprint and I was trying to stay calm, just waiting for the perfect moment to start my sprint. It was really close, but I’m over the moon to have been able to get the double win.
“It was also really good to see the positive and hard racing from all the ladies today, especially Tiffany Keep. We worked together and if it wasn’t for all her help and encouragement, things would have been very different.”
