The 2018 edition of the annual Lowveld Cycle Tour has come to an end with Matthew Beers of the Mbombela-based Team-NAD taking home the yellow jersey. It is his second triumph in the Lowveld in 2018, having won the annual Mpumalanga Cycle Tour in January.
The bigger picture is to get a European contract next year.
It has been another successful event. The four-stage Lowveld Cycle Tour finished without any controversies.
The tour’s commissars and judges say they are happy with the manner the riders behaved on the roads throughout the event.
“The race has been clean; the race has been good; there’s nothing, as judges, that we really encountered,” says Tour Chief Judge Janet Oosthuizen.
Cycle tours in the region prepare riders for bigger and better things.
“You could think of Hanse van Rensburgh, Louis Meintjies, and Daryl Impey long way back. Then there are quite a few others as well, like Willie Smit of Mpumalanga cycle tour fame. He’s now in Europe, and I believe some of these youngsters here will soon also be in Europe,” says Tour Organiser Hendrik Wagener.
The 24-year-old Cape Town-born Beers is also keen to compete in Europe in the near future.
“It’s always the bigger goal – the bigger picture. So, you try and try. You progress and if the option arises, then you take it. But we have to start somewhere and this gives us a great opportunity and it’s a stepping stone.”
The next major cycling event in the Lowveld will be the annual Mpumalanga Cycle Tour in January and most of the cyclists cannot wait for that tour.
Watch the video for more on the tour:
