UCI Junior Worlds for Cape Town
24 June 2008
The Western Cape hosted an 11-day festival of cycling leading into the MTN Giro del Capo and Cape Argus Pick 'n Pay Cycle Tour in March. Then came the Absa Cape Epic. Now Cape Town is gearing up for the 2008 UCI Junior World Championship.
The event will be organised by Treble Entertainment who, on behalf of world cycling's governing body, the UCI, and in conjunction with Cycling South Africa, successfully put on the 2007 UCI B World Championships.
More recently, Treble organised the Intaka Tech Worlds' View Challenge in KwaZulu-Natal - the highest ranked international road cycling event in Africa.
1 700 competitors
The World Championships take place from 12 to 20 July, and they'll see about 1 700 National Federation representatives from close to 50 countries participating.
The event include five days of track racing at the Bellville Velodrome, individual time trials in Wellington, and an individual road race around Cape Town.
Due to planned roadworks along Main Road, from Muizenburg through to Fish Hoek, the route used for the road race at the UCI B World Championships in 2007, which included the Argus Cycle Tour route, won't be able to be used.
The organisers have responded by coming up with a course, which has been given the backing of the UCI, that presents "the Mother City" from a different perspective.
Scenic circuit
Events manager Denzil Ulyate explained: "The decision was to look at a circuit route through the CBD, as well as along the Foreshore, and out towards the Southern Suburbs along scenic De Waal drive.
"This means that the international cyclists will cycle in the shadow of Table Mountain, with beautiful views across to Robben Island - great from a competitor, spectator and international television broadcast perspective. In addition, the route has some very tight corners, great long sprint sections, as well as steep inclines."
The honorary president of the local organizing committee and executive deputy mayor of Cape Town, Councillor Grant Haskin also gave the route his blessing.
Spectators
"A circular route through the City of Cape Town is going to be great for spectators and the city," he said. "We will be able to identify key vantage points along the course to ensure Capetonians are able to watch these elite juniors (under-18s) from around the world in action."
The individual road race will take to the streets of Cape Town on Sunday, 20 July. The total distance for the men is 133.6 kilometres - which means 8 laps of the circuit - while the women will complete 5 laps of the circuit, making it a total distance of 83.5 kilometres.
Stars
A look at a list of recent and current world cycling stars reveals just how important the UCI Junior World Championships are. Among those who won or placed in the top three at the Junior World Championships in the past are:
- Greg Lemond (Three times winner of the Tour de France)
- Erik Dekker (Multiple stage winner of Grand Tours and events)
- Jan Ulrich (Winner of the Tour de France)
- Ivan Basso (Second in Tour de France; Winner of Giro d'Italia)
- Steffen Wesemann (Winner of 2004 Road World Cup)
- Michael Rogers (Three times Time Trial World Champion)
- Damiano Cunego (Winner of Giro D'Italia and UCI ProTour)
Last year's event was hosted by Aguascalientes (Mexico) and Moscow will be the host in 2009, which illustrates that, among worldwide venues, Cape Town ranks among the best.
Source: UCI Junior World Championships
