Khayelitsha road cyclists Vuyo Mavuya and Vuyolwethu Nkomo from The Sports Trust Development Cycling Programme are reaping the rewards of their commitment and dedication to training when they received news that they form part of the team roster for Kinetic Pro Cycling Team for the 2019 season.
Mavuya, captain of the Sports Trust Cycling team, started cycling in 2016 and has placed his focus on training while also helping to manage the development cycling team at Matthew Goniwe Memorial High School in Khayelitsha.
Nkomo is a matric learner at the same school and began cycling in 2014. By 2018, he finished fourth in the Under 19 Time Trial at the SA Road National Championships in Oudtshoorn. He was recently awarded his Western Province cycling colours.
Manager of The Sports Trust Development Cycling Programme, Mike Tippett, says: “These two cyclists are the face of The Sports Trust Development Cycling Programme and have worked phenomenally hard to achieve selection into this pro development cycling team. We’re incredibly proud of them.”
Kinetic Pro Cycling Team offers the ideal platform on which to progress their cycling careers even further and provides the opportunity for aspiring young cyclists, mainly from historically disadvantaged backgrounds in South Africa, to race professionally at the highest levels in South Africa and internationally. The team will focus on the national racing calendar this year with the goal to register as a Pro Continental Team to race at international level in 2020.
Tippett says that over the last couple of years The Sports Trust programme has seen vast improvement in the all-round performance of the development cyclists, which led to the creation of an elite development squad of 14 cyclists in 2017, including Nkomo and Mavuya, both of whom have triumphed over difficult circumstances.
“Cycling has given me the space to show my talent,” says Mavuya. “Being part of the elite development cycling or the “DC” squad has been a major stepping stone towards the dream of one day riding professionally, of riding in the big stages with the big guys and showing them what I am made of. It’s all starting to happen now. I love this sport.”
Nkomo, says: “I was motivated to start cycling at my school in 2014 after watching cycling races on TV. Now that I have been selected for the Kinetic Pro Cycling team, I tell myself that nothing can stop me. I love cycling and I am also doing well at school. I train hard every day and then I do my homework. When I finish school, I want to continue with my studies and professional cycling.”
The Sports Trust Development Cycling Programme has been funded by Nedbank since 2005, together with The Sports Trust. The programme supplies bikes and supports the training and participation of over 200 cyclists annually from 12 disadvantaged high schools and communities across the Western Cape, including the Cape Flats, Boland, Kraaifontein and the West Coast.
