Reigning Cape Town Cycle Tour champion Travis Barrett is itching to defend his title when the race’s new date is announced. Photo: Tobias Ginsberg
Reigning Cape Town Cycle Tour champion Travis Barrett won’t get to defend his title in the event’s regular March timeslot, but is itching to do so when the new date is announced.
Race organisers have confirmed that this year’s race has been postponed to a yet-to-be-announced date later in 2021.
While Barrett believed the race wouldn’t go ahead as per normal, it hasn’t dampened his desire to achieve back-to-back wins in the world’s largest single-day race.
“I had assumed for quite a while that this year’s event would be postponed due to the Covid-19 developments over the festive season, so the recent announcement was not a real shock to me,” Barrett told In the Bunch.
Barrett expressed his happiness that the event was merely postponed rather than cancelled completely.
“I believe the organisers made the right decision in postponing the event to a later date so that more riders will be able to participate safely, instead of holding a watered-down race.”
Barrett, still only 21 years old, added that he was “looking forward to the announcement of the new date and to defending his title along with his Shesha Fuels Racing teammates”.
While the Covid-19 pandemic has hit cycling hard, for Gauteng-based Barrett in many ways it has been business as usual since winning last year’s Cape Town Cycle Tour in a sprint finish.
Reigning Cape Town Cycle Tour champion Travis Barrett is itching to defend his title when the race’s new date is announced. Photo: Supplied
“My training has continued as normal and the opportunity to get some racing in towards the end of last year felt like an added bonus after a quieter year than normal in early 2020,” Barrett added.
The Covid-19 enforced lockdown in several respects has had a positive impact on Barrett.
“The lockdown gave me the opportunity to work on some of my weaknesses on and off the bike and I believe that has helped me become a better athlete all-round,” Barrett concluded.
