Cycling South Africa is proud to announce the Elite Women\u2019s National Road Cycling Team that will participate in the 2016 CAC (African Cycling Confederation) Road Cycling Championships, taking place in Morocco, from 22 to 26 February.<\/p>\n
Cycling SA is sending a women\u2019s team only as the Continental Championships is extremely important for them to bolster valuable UCI points in the lead up to Olympic qualification. The South African women\u2019s team is in a favourable position due to Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio\u2019s excellent performances during the 2015 season, which saw her ranked sixth in the Elite Women UCI Individual World Rankings at the end of 2015. This placed South Africa in ninth place in the UCI Nation\u2019s Rankings, which (as it currently stands) qualifies South Africa to take three Elite Women to the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. The National Team aims to qualify an extra spot on the women\u2019s team for Rio at the 2016 CAC (African Cycling Confederation) Road Cycling Championships in Morocco.<\/p>\n
Due to her team commitments and preparations for the forthcoming season with the Cervelo-Bigla Pro Cycling Team, Moolman-Pasio will not be able to participate in Morocco next week. The proficient team of newly crowned National Champion, An-Li Kachelhoffer will be joined by road racing stalwarts Lise Olivier and Anriette Schoeman, who finished second and third respectively at the SA National Road Cycling Championships at the weekend. The final team member is Samantha Sanders, who put on a brilliant performance at the SA Road Champs at the weekend. She has recently crossed over from mountain biking to road racing and has shown immense power and talent on the tarmac. Sanders will work closely with her experienced teammates to deliver on the team\u2019s goals.<\/p>\n
The full team will be competing in the Team Time Trial on Sunday 21 February and the Road Race on Thursday 25 February, while Sanders and Olivier will compete in the Individual Time Trial on Tuesday 23 February.<\/p>\n