Oudtshoorn Cycling Youth Festival
Eden Cycling will host the annual Oudtshoorn Youth Festival for the 7th consecutive year, during the first week of the July school holiday from Monday, 3 July to Wednesday, 5 July 2017.
The Oudtshoorn Youth Festival is the stepping stone for young cyclists to develop bike skills that is often not up to standard. This event aims to create an opportunity for all riders under the age of 19 to participate against other riders with similar abilities. The emphasis is on team and mass participation and all events are structured in such a way that points will be awarded to every participant – even if they did not complete a race.
This is also an opportunity for the Provinces to identify talent, and assist with development and transformation goals. It is difficult to identify a young rider’s potential if they participate in mass events with adults as their competitors.
The focus is more on bike skills and therefore bunch track events on Mountain bikes were incorporated to allow the youth to develop their skills in a safe and secure environment, and at the same time, to give them the opportunity to watch and learn from the more experienced participants. It also provides cross-pollination of events and exposure to different cycling environments.
The program will include a Road Race on 3 July at the Highgate Circuit, followed by a Team Time trial at the Highgate Circuit, and a Criterium race at Aurial College circuit on 4 July. On the final day, 5 July, a MTB Time trial and MTB Oval Track racing (1500m, Scratch and elimination races) will be held at the Quad Club.
The Youth Festival provides a strong healthy platform to develop riders into future cycling professionals such as Burry Stander and Louis Meintjes. Last year, Louis Visser, now riding for Dimension Data Continental Team, also took part in this event.
Corné Bence, President of Eden Cycling, and organizer of the event said that the Oudtshoorn Youth Festival has shown a progressive growth and a high level of competition.
For more information contact 071 886 3787 or [email protected]
