The specialized equipment rolling into De Rust for the annual Western Cape cycling championships on the weekend of 5 and 6 January indicated that this was serious business: every second was going to count. Time trial bikes, disk wheels and aero bars could be seen while skin suits, scientific supplements and professionally prepared strategies were ready to be launched on the big day.
Most of the riders were from the big cities in the South while towns on the coast from Hermanus to Plett were also well represented. The Great Karoo had a sole representative in Siemon Joubert from Prince Albert. He did not expect to do much: this would be his first year as a junior, this would be his first race on the road, he was on a borrowed bike with hardly any specialized equipment.
In an interview with our correspondent, Siemon said that he had enjoyed taking part in the To Hell and Back mountain bike race in November (he was 4th over all and won the second stage — ed) and just felt it would be interesting to see how he, with his gravel road and mountain pass background, would compare to the specialists on a road time trial, the “race of truth”. His training over December had not gone particularly well as the family had been away on holiday, but he did do “a ride up Sani Pass and a couple of rides on the beach with friends”.
The big day came. At one-minute intervals, the riders set out from Stompdrift dam on the Willowmore road facing a grueling out-and-back course of 38 km.
The Little Karoo is not flat. The sun rises early with a January vengeance. The wind will always blow. Judging by the way Siemon was picking off riders in front of him and by the huge gap forming behind him it was clear that this Karoo boytjie, the mountain biker, was not going to be last. Smooth action, sustained power, relaxed posture, they were all there and needed to be.
There was a new leader on the board: Nicholas Friedrich from Cape Town posted a 61:37! Incredible! On this course? Then a 61 dead by Bobby Troskie, where would this end? Surely the 60:54 posted soon after by Zander du Preez would stand? Then Siemon crossed the line: 60 minutes and 18 seconds. Gold, the new Western Cape Junior Time Trial Champion. Four riders separated by less than 90 seconds, every one does indeed count.
