KZN’s Frances Janse van Rensburg, riding in her first national road championship event, claimed the U19 time trial title at the SA Youth Road Cycling Championships in Camperdown, KwaZulu-Natal, on Saturday morning.
Van Rensburg beat Kelsey Jade van Schoor by 13 seconds over the 11,8km course, while Da Silva powered over the 23,6km boys U19 route to claim that title with a 16-second gap to Travis Stedman.
Van Rensburg said she was a bit surprised to find herself on the top step of the podium, wearing a brand new South African Champion’s jersey.
“I did not expect it,” said Van Rensburg shortly after the prizegiving ceremony. “It was my first time doing a national time trial event … I do not even have a proper time trial bike.
“It was a very, very hard course – it was short and very fast. I really had to dig deep at times out there.”
On Sunday Van Rensburg will have another opportunity to claim a national title in the road race which takes place on the M13 in Westville. And once again the KwaZulu-Natal local will be looking to win on debut.
“It is also my first time doing a national road race tomorrow, so we will have to see how it goes. I am a mountain biker and I only started to do some road last year, but I am really enjoying it.”
Van Schoor must be feeling like a perennial bridesmaid after her runner-up finish gave her a third U19 National Championship silver medal. Last year she was second in both the road race and the time trial and must be desperately hoping she can go one position better on Sunday.
In the U19 boys race there was no such frustration for Da Silva who was always under pressure from Stedman but also always looked to be in control. The bronze medallist from 2018 in the road race started strongly and at all the splits along the course he was ahead of his nearest challenger.
In the end, Da Silva claimed the national jersey with a gap of 16 seconds over Stedman, the 2018 double champion from the U17 age group.
“I gave it everything I had out there today,” said Da Silva. “I was not getting any splits so I did not know what the situation was with the other guys, but I just put my head down and did the best I could.”
Da Silva is also expecting a tough battle in the road race on Sunday.
“It is hard to say what will happen in the road race. There are some really strong riders, and from Durban in particular I am happy with my preparations but we will have to see what happens – but it would be awesome to get the double,” he added with a huge grin.
There was double glory for the Uys family from Gauteng with Kita claiming the gold medal in the U15 girls’ race a few minutes after her sister Kyla had been crowned the U13 champion.
Kyla was a big winner in her event, beating Mina van der Walt by 97 seconds in the U13 race, but things were much closer for Kita who ended up just seven seconds ahead of Jessie Munton in the U15 age group.
The closest race of the day was in the U17 boys where Warren Moolman from Durban was a bit of a surprise winner as he edged out Zander Mertz but just one second over the 11,8km course. Bertie Emmett Anderson was third, just nine seconds further back while Justin Chesterton and Nicholas van Rooyen missed out on a spot on the podium despite both also finishing with 14 seconds of the new champion.
Results
Under 11 Boys
1 Camaron Wilcox 16.36
2 Connor Hawkins 17.44
3 Ferdi Botha 17.59
4 Christian Roelofse 18.36
5 Kean Dalton 19.50
Under 13 Girls
1 Kyla Uys 14.14
2 Mina Van Der Walt 15.51
3 Danel De Jager 15.51
4 Jana Van Der Walt 16.28
5 Hannah Cairns 19.38
Under 13 Boys
1 Morgan Jones 17.27
2 Leroux Van Der Leek 18.16
3 Matthew Horter 18.17
4 Alessandro Fanicchi 18.20
5 Josh Johnson 18.20
Under 15 Girls
1 Kita Uys 16.49
2 Jessie Munton 16.56
3 Mienke Boshoff 18.17
4 Chanica Botes 19.43
5 Makayla Saville 19.47
Under 15 Boys
1 Adriaan Van Zyl 18.28
2 Shaun Wolfaardt 19.06
3 Sean Yelland 20.02
4 Evan Moolman 20.05
5 Francois Jacobus De Jager 20.14
Under 17 Girls
1 Chante Olivier 17.45
2 Chloe Bateson 18.19
3 Chante Oosthuizen 18.28
4 Sonica Klopper 18.42
5 Caitlin Thompson 19.38
Under 17 Boys
1 Warren Moolman 16.38
2 Zander Mertz 16.39
3 Bertie Emmett Anderson 16.48
4 Justin Chesterton 16.50
5 Nicholas Van Rooyen 16.52
Under 19 women
1 Frances Janse Van Rensburg 18.03
2 Kelsey Jade Van Schoor 18.16
3 Sophia Friedrich 18.49
4 Mischka Strydom 18.55
5 Charlissa Schultz 19.13
Under 19 Men
1 Tiano Da Silva 31.12
2 Travis Stedman 31.28
3 Christiaan Klopper 31.56
4 Eric Kros 32.41
5 Dian Janjetich 33.05
