The club consists of top riders from around the country and has a lot of support from their first committed sponsor for 2014; Pro-Admin.
Jacques Horn, the club’s chairperson, stated that, “Currently the main focus of the club is to send a men’s and women’s team to the 2014 USSA cycling tour.” The University Sports South Africa (USSA) cycling tour is a three-day, five-stage tour and also includes a one-day mountain biking race.
The TuksCycling team won the championships last year and Horn said, “We hope to defend the title this year. Tukkies are the proud hosts of the 2014 edition of the tour and all of the stages will be taking place in and around Pretoria with stage 4 and stage 5 being held at the Voortrekker Monument and Tuks campus respectfully.” The tour takes place during the first week of the June/ July holidays and will see cyclists from universities around the country competing.
Two cycling stars that were a part of the TuksCycling club are Willie Smit and Kevin Patten. Both of these riders have represented South Africa and are currently riding full time for professional teams. Smit won four out of the five stages of the 2013 USSA tour and also won both the yellow and green jerseys. Horn informed Perdeby that, “Willie recently won the intermediate sprinters jersey at the prestigious Tour of Oman, his first pro European tour race, with some of the world’s top riders present.” Smit is currently based in Europe and is racing for Vini Fantini-Nippo, a continental cycling team that is based in Japan.
Joining the TuksCycling club allows members to participate in the annual nationally recognised USSA cycling races (mountain and road). Students can register at LC de Villiers’s main building to become members of the TuksCycling club. The membership fee for the year is R240, and includes affiliation to USSA. You do not need to be a licenced rider in order to join and the club welcomes riders of both road and mountain biking. Students are encouraged to register before the end of March as the club is planning its first meeting after the quarter break in April.
Students can follow TuksCycling on Twitter @TuksCycling for news relating to any races that take place as well as on the Tuks Cycling website, which can be found under the Cycling tab on the Tuks Sport website.
Image: thehubsa.co.za
