Category: Road

The KZN Road and Time Trial Championships will take place from Glencairn Weddings, just outside Himeville (Underberg) on the weekend of 20 – 22 January 2023.

FAST FACTS
When: Friday 20^th – Sunday 22^nd January 2023
Where: Glencairn Weddings, Himeville (near Underberg)
What: Friday 20^th January – Hill Climb Championships
              Saturday 21^st January – Time Trial Championships
              Sunday 22^nd January – Road Championships
Entries: Go to www.cyclingsa.com
Closing date: Monday 16^th January 2023

The venue at Glencairn Weddings is well known to mountain bikers and trail runners (host to sani2c, JoBerg2c and the Glencairn Trail Run – amongst many other events and gatherings) and provides a range of accommodation options to suit all pockets. There are also plenty of other nearby accommodation options in the area. Whilst the venue requires some travel to get there, participants (and supporters) will be well-rewarded with a beautiful setting and the opportunity to make a full weekend of cycling festivities in a pristine environment.

Both the Time Trial and the Road Race will make use of the Sani Pass road, over a 10km stretch, starting just outside the entrance to Glencairn and heading towards Sani Pass Hotel. The tarmac is in excellent condition and provides a smooth and fast surface with undulating hills which will make for some testing racing.

For the first time ever, a Hill Climb has been introduced and this will add a new element to the Championships, especially as the ‘real King & Queen’ in each category will be determined from a combination of all three events ! The Hill Climb starts just past the Sani Pass Hotel and covers a distance of 11km to the SA Border Post. This stretch of road has only recently been tarred and is spectacular. The gradient is steep in places but there are several flat and downhill sections and will make for a really special addition to the weekend of racing

EVENT SCHEDULE & INFO

Friday 20 January       HILL CLIMB CHAMPIONSHIPS
Entry fee R180
Open to all age-groups (U11 – 70+)
Start times:
10h00: U11 Boys & Girls, U13 Boys & Girls, U15 Girls
10h30: U15 Boys, U17 Girls, Women 40+, Men 70+
11h00: Women U19, U23, Elite, 30-39, Boys U17, Men 50-69
11h30: Men U19, U23, Elite, 30-39, 40-49.

Saturday 21 January  TIME TRIAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Entry fees / Distances / Age-Group
10km – R200 (U11 – U17 Girls / U11 – U15 Boys)
20km – R250 (Women 50-69 / Men 65+ / U17 Boys)
27km – R250 (Women Junior, U23, 30-49 / Men 50 – 64)
34km – R250 (Women Elite / Men Junior, U23, 30-49)
47km – R250 (Men Elite)                                           
                                            
Start times (per age-group):
Will be sent to all entrants once entries have closed (after 17 Jan)
Elite & U23 Men: TT distance to be confirmed – 34km / 47km.

Medal Presentation:
Will take place at Glencairn once all the age-groups have finished and the results have been verified (approx. 13h00)

Saturday 21 January  ROAD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Entry fees / Distances / Age-Group
20km – R250 (U11 Boys & Girls / U13 Boys & Girls / U15 Girls)
                                            
Start time: 15h00

                             
Sunday 22 January     ROAD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Entry fees / Distances / Age-Group
60km – R300 (U15 Boys / U17 Girls / Men 70+ / Women 40-49, 50-59, 60-69)
80km – R300 (Women Junior, U23, Elite, 30-39 / U17 Boys, Men 50-59, 60-69)
120km – R350 (Men Junior, U23, Elite, 30-39, 40-49)
                                            
Start times:
06h00 – Men Junior, U23, Elite, 30-49
08h00 – Boys U17, Men 50-59, 60-69
08h30 – Women U19, U23, Elite, 30-39
08h45 – Girls U17, Women 40+, Boys U15, Men 70+

Final Awards Presentations:
Will take place at Glencairn once the results have been verified – times to be confirmed but no later than 12h00.
                                                         

ROUTE PROFILES Road / Time Trial Course (20km lap)
NOTE: the below is the full stretch of road between the turn-off to Sani Pass (off the Himeville road) to the turn point (past the Sani Pass Hotel) – there are variations of the route distance depending on each category and event (ITT / RR).

Hill Climb: 11km

CYCLING CLUBS
Should encourage their members to take part ! This is not just about the medal contenders – the weekend is the perfect opportunity for riders to take part in a unique road cycling event, challenge themselves and enjoy road cycling at its best. Not to mention, it’s a worthwhile goal to ‘lift your game’ over the festive season and get some training done !
Clubs will be able to put up their gazebo’s at the start / finish venue at Glencairn and make use of the facilities provided (toilets and showers).

KING / QUEEN OF THE CHAMPIONS !
A unique inclusion to the KZN Road Cycling Championships. Participants who compete in all three events (Hill Climb, Time Trial and Road Race) will be eligible for the award of ‘King / Queen of the Champions’. This award has been created to encourage participation in all three events and the winners will certainly be worthy Champions !

The age-groups will be per below:
               U11 Boys & Girls
               U13 Boys & Girls
               U15 Boys & Girls
               U17 Boys & Girls
               Junior Men & Women
               Elite & U23 Men & Women
               Masters 30-39 Men & Women
               Masters 40-49 Men & Women
               Masters 50-59 Men & Women
               Masters 60+ Men & Women

GENERAL

ACCOMMODATION / FACILITIES
Glencairn Weddings (www.glencairnweddings.co.za) offer a wide range of accommodation options from tents to dormitory style to chalets. They are also offering a discount to all riders taking part in the KZN Champs weekend. Use this link to log in to the booking system: https://computicket-boxoffice.com/e/kzn-road-champs-0J1aaw
The venue offers hot showers and plenty of toilets. There will be coffee vendors and catering on site.
Google search for plenty of other accommodation options in the Himeville / Underberg / Sani Pass area.

ENTRIES
A valid CSA membership is required to enter.
Entries are open on www.cyclingsa.com (log into your profile to see the entry portal)

ENQUIRIES
Event Director    Angus McFarlane             082 820 4490
Admin                   Rebecca van der Linde    082 896 6864
E-mail                   [email protected]

After much hard work and a stellar year thus far, Frances Janse van Rensburg will be embarking on a new exciting challenge from next week when she leaves SA to take up a slot earned at the World Cycling Centre in Switzerland. Apart from receiving top quality training from the UCI coaches throughout the year, she will also be riding for the WCC Continental Women’s Team that competes in all the premier races across Europe. The opportunity is a massive one for Frances and certainly well deserved and testimony to her efforts as well as the guidance given by Johann Wykerd who has been coaching her throughout. The farewell function held saw many of the people that have supported Frances over the years, including KZN Cycling President, Sean Lucien. We all wish her well in her journey ahead.

Due to her youth, we won’t refer to Frances Janse van Rensburg as the Queen of the Desert, but rather as the Princess. This is despite the fact that our KZN U23 rider ruled over all comers this past week at the African Continental Road Championships in Cairo winning a total of five medals – four golds and a silver – and having the accolade of winning the most medals at the Champs. A fantastic effort and more good things are sure to be on the horizon.

The 2020 KZN Provincial Road Championships was successfully staged by Johann Wykerd and his team supported by the KZN Road Commission in Wartburg on the weekend of 25^th & 26^th January. A good size field across all the varying age categories including a large contingent of KZN Cycling Development HP squad riders competed in the time trial and road race competitions on Saturday and Sunday respectively. The roads in the Wartburg area have been used on a number of different occasions over the years for major events including National and African Continental Road Championships and also the UCI Masters Road World Championships as far back as 2012, and the minimal traffic in the area allied to the rolling nature of the terrain always makes for great racing conditions – and yet challenging enough to ensure all riders are tested completely.

Saturday’s time trial saw races over 15km, 20km and 30km – the length varying according to the age categories – and despite a large proportion of the main men’s race top twenty results being filled by the older gents, it was the impetuous youngster, Travis Stedman, still a Junior rider, that won the day and was crowned as the Provincial Time Trial Champion. Frances Janse van Rensburg and Tiffany Keep, both U23 women took the top sports in the women’s event.

On day two, the various road race competitions took place in hot and windy conditions that put paid to many a rider’s chances and in the earlier races, the development squad performed exceptionally well with a clutch of medals attained, including a Championships title in the U17 boys race for Thabiso Zindela who had been narrowly beaten in the TT the day before. Tiffany Keep and Frances Janse van Rensburg were again the top two women on the day, but with their positions reversed with Tiffany coming out on top in the road race. In the main man’s race of the day, the KZN Road Team were well represented in the break of the day but again no one could keep up with Travis Stedman who rode exceptionally well to take the overall title as well as his Junior category. Henry Liebenberg (U23) was in second place overall and the winner of the U23 category with Luke Chambers rounding out the podium and winning the Elite category gold.

Another good provincial championships staged and all riders are looking forward to carrying their good form forward to the National Road Championships in Mpumalanga in February.

• 

• 

• 

•