![\"ccs-58780-0-53146100-1494521117.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ccs-58780-0-53146100-1494521117.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nOn Thursday they were handed their trophies and prizes: R50 000 from Exxaro to spend on educational opportunities or other life improvement initiatives and a stay at one of the world\u2019s foremost elite sports performance academies.<\/p>\n
Mokgopo and Sebona, both 25-years-old, will soon be spending eight days at the Bakala Academy in Leuven, Belgium, and rubbing shoulders with elite athletes from around the world. Among them will be the Etixx Quick-Step professional road racing team \u2013 currently performing so well at the Giro d\u2019Italia.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the best opportunity I have had in my life,\u201d Sebona told a press conference at Klein Constantia yesterday. \u201cIt will help us to train and prepare ourselves in the same way as proper professional athletes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mokgopo said he was \u201cvery excited \u2026 this trip is going to help us learn a lot and is a growth opportunity for me\u201d. He was looking forward to \u201cusing what we learn to help ourselves and others back home to grow and develop\u201d.<\/p>\n
Exxaro chief executive officer Mxolisi Mgojo handed over R25 000 cheques to each of the duo and explained the motivation behind the sponsorship of the jersey for riders from previously disadvantaged backgrounds who are under 26-years-old.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe essence for us was about liberating the mind \u2026 to where you can say I am capable of doing anything,\u201d said Mgojo. \u201cIf your mind has been enslaved for many years you doubt yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n
The coal and heavy minerals mining company launched the Exxaro MTB Academy in 2011 and its riders have graced the Absa Cape Epic ever since then.<\/p>\n This year riders from three other academies \u2013 the Diepsloot MTB Academy in Gauteng, the Change A Life Academy in KwaZulu Natal and Songo.Info from Stellenbosch \u2013 were given entries and another 10 were available for sponsors. As a result 19 teams \u2013 38 riders \u2013 took part in the race for the Exxaro jersey.<\/p>\n Mgojo said he was delighted to see the expansion: \u201cFor us this was never just about Exxaro. It was about opening up the sport. This is about transforming a sport and helping transform a nation.\u201d<\/p>\n He added that \u201cit is my dream that one day we will see the Exxaro jersey wearer also in the red jersey (presented to the top all-African team)\u201d.<\/p>\n Diepsloot Academy chairman Andre Ross pointed out that Diepsloot had the highest incidence of rape \u201cin a country that is the world capital of rape\u201d and this gave an insight into the achievement of Mokgopo and Sebona.<\/p>\n \u201cGuys like that provide a deterrent to complacency \u2026 they become beacons in their community. The success of a few create a momentum that pulls everybody else along.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked if they would be racing the Absa Cape Epic together again in 2018, Sebona answered immediately: \u201cDefinitely.\u201d<\/p>\n Absa Cape Epic founder Kevin Vermaak said: \u201cThere have been moments along the (race\u2019s) journey that I have been very proud of and this is one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n The handover to Mokgopo and Sebona was the culmination of initiatives that had begun seven or eight years ago and had \u201cgrown their own wings\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n