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<\/a><\/p>\nGibbons completed the 40km men\u2019s time trial course in a time of 51:24.08, with Lill completing the women\u2019s 30km time trial course in 47:04.42.<\/p>\n
The day started out cool with light drizzle, the rain coming down harder just as the women\u2019s individual trial began at 10:10am. By the time the men started riding at 12 noon, the rain was gone for the day. Wind was a factor, with riders enjoying a tailwind for the first half of the out-and-back course, only to race the second half of the course into a headwind.<\/p>\n
The course for both the men\u2019s and women\u2019s races were fairly straightforward affairs. The men\u2019s 40km route took riders out of Swellendam on the R60 towards Ashton before turning back towards Swellendam at the 20km mark. The women\u2019s 30km race followed the same route, turning at 15km rather than 20. The men\u2019s route had a total elevation of approximately 578m, with the women\u2019s route gaining approximately 425.<\/p>\n
In the men\u2019s elite race, the initial pace was set by Matt Beers, who was the first elite rider out of the starting block.<\/p>\n Beers was a late replacement for Team type{DEV} NanoTime teammate Nico Bell, who pulled out of the race during the week due to illness. With just a few rides on a time trial bike prior to the National Championships, the formidable Beers was still able to lay down a marker for the field with a time of 52:38:12. No one else in the field was able to match Beers, until last rider for the day Ryan Gibbons set off.<\/p>\n \u201cI knew it would be hard to beat Ryan, and he gave me a solid beating in the end,\u201d said Beers. \u201cI think if I lost by a few seconds I would be upset, but losing by a full minute is a hiding. I\u2019m glad I did as well as I did after just two days of riding on the time trial bike.\u201d<\/p>\n Gibbons, who won the Road Race and the Time Trial at the African Road Championships in Morocco earlier this month, was given the greenlight to travel to South Africa two weeks ago and put in a stellar performance in Swellendam.<\/p>\n \u201cRacing at the South African National Championships wasn\u2019t in my original race calendar, but when the opportunity came to travel to South Africa I jumped at it,\u201d said Gibbons.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it’s important for overseas pros to race on home soil as we don’t often get the chance. There was a strong field here and the local guys really rode well. My form was good coming into the event; I backed myself today but was surprised by the route as it seemed a bit harder than I originally thought. I just went as hard as I could and held on for as long as I could.\u201d<\/p>\n Kent Main (53:11:50) was the third place rider in the men\u2019s elite race.<\/p>\n Earlier in the day, the women\u2019s elite race started in heavy rain. Right from the start, Lill looked like the rider to beat as she launched down the first descent and over the first small hill.<\/p>\n Riding last in the elite women\u2019s start group was Carla Oberholzer, who was crowned African time trial champion in Morocco earlier in March. Oberholzer also started like she needed to catch the last repatriation flight before lockdown, but on the day she couldn\u2019t match Lill\u2019s efforts.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n