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SA cyclists dominate African Champs

Brad Morgan

10 November 2009

South African champion Lynette Burger added the continental road cycling title to her list of 2009 achievements when she won the Elite women's road race at the African Championships in Windhoek, Namibia on Sunday.

Burger was crowned the South African road race champion in March after a string of runner-up finishes in major races.

The 29-year-old from Boksburg, who races for the Toyota Supercycling professional team, led a South African clean sweep in the race, with Cherise Taylor placing second, Lizanne Naude third, and Marissa van der Merwe fourth.

"The conditions were tough with hills, heat and wind, which made up for the relatively short distance of 60 kilometres," said Burger.

'Our priority'

"Our priority was to get three South Africans into medal contention and from there it became an internal battle for the medals.

"I've been sprinting well lately so I was quite confident, which certainly helped."

The South African success was achieved despite the absence of one of the country's top cyclists; Ashleigh Moolman missed the African Championships after breaking her left collarbone in a training accident at the end of the October. She placed second to Burger in the national road race championships and won the very tough 150-kilometre Jock Tour in July.

Men's road race

Further SA success was achieved by Ian McLeod, who claimed gold in the Elite Men's road race, edging out fellow South African Jay Thomson in a sprint finish, to take victory in three hours, 52 minutes and eight seconds for the 147.4 kilometre distance.

Third place went to Namibia's Erik Hoffman, with another South African, Arran Brown – the winner of the Cape Argus Pick 'n Pay Cycle Tour in March – taking fourth place.

The time trial events, which preceded the road races were also dominated by South Africans.

Time trials

Cashandra Slingerland captured the gold medal in the women's event, with Burger taking the silver. Aurelie Halbwachs of Mauritius claimed the bronze medal.

Jay Thomson, second in the road race, won the men's time trial, with South Africa finishing second too through Reinhardt Janse van Rensburg. Namibia's Hoffman, third in the road race, also placed third in the time trial.

Janse van Rensburg was also the winner of the men's under-23 category.

Team success

In addition, there was a further gold medal for South Africa in the team time trial, which was the first event contested.

The SA team topped the medal standings, finishing with six gold medals, five silver, and a single bronze for a 12-medal haul in total.

Namibia was second with five medals, made up of one gold, two silver, and two bronzes, with Rwanda ending third with two bronze medals.