Round three of the 2015 Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) Para-cycling World Cup took place in Elzach, Germany from July 24-26. Team South Africa put on a fantastic show, adding four medals to their already impressive count in the World Cup series this year, Cycling SA reports.
The time trial events saw Goldy Fuchs on the podium with a silver medal in his T2 tricycle race, while six-time Paralympian Ernst van Dyk claimed a bronze medal in the H5 hand-cycle race.
“I’m really happy with my silver medal from the time trial! I’m feeling positive about World Champs – I did a really good training session on the course this morning,” said Fuchs.
H2 hand cyclist Justine Asher unfortunately could not claim a medal, as she was the only female competitor in her class. Consequently, she was factored against the H2 Men class, and missed a medal by a mere two percent against a strong field.
T1 tricyclist George Rex finished fourth in his time trial, while C2 cyclist Craig Ridgard recorded a sixth place finish.
The demanding and technical road race course yielded another podium finish for Van Dyk, where he claimed a bronze medal just 16 seconds behind the Dutch riders Jetze Plat and Tim de Vries.
Adding to the medal count was George Rex, who also claimed bronze in the T1 road race.
Craig Ridgard finished the C2 road race just millimetres behind the third-placed rider, Israel Hilario Rimas, narrowly missing out on a medal in a well-calculated race. The first four riders all recorded the same finish time.
Asher’s road race performance allowed her to reclaim the World Cup series leader’s jersey.
“The German World Cup was a lovely venue, and very well organised,” said Asher.
She could only speak highly of her stay in Germany, but mentioned that the races were not easy. “The road race was very technical and the time trial was just one long climb. Otherwise, I really enjoyed the general friendliness of the people and the beauty of the surroundings,” she said.
The team then moved on to Switzerland for the 2015 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships, which took place in Nottwil, Switzerland from July 29 to August 2.
The next leg of the UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup will take place in Pietermaritzburg on September 11-13. South African and international Para-cycling stars will be tussling it out for UCI points in their bids to qualify for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.
More information on the 2015 UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup Pietermaritzburg can be found here: http://www.cyclingsa.com/2015-uci-para-road-world-cup/
