It’s a bundle of proud moments for two of Khayelitsha’s young cyclists. Vuyo Mavuya and Vuyolwethu Nkomo from the Sports Trust Development Cycling Programme as they were selected to be part of eight Kietics Pro Cycling team members.
The programme has been funded by Nedbank since 2005, together with The Sports Trust.
Annually, it supplies bikes to and supports the training and participation of over 200 cyclists annually from over 12 disadvantaged high schools and communities across the Western Cape.
Kinetics Pro Cycling is an opportunity for aspiring young cyclists, mainly from historically disadvantaged backgrounds in South Africa, to race professionally at the highest level in country and internationally.
Vuyolwethu, a matric pupil at Matthew Goniwe High School in Khayelitsha, started cycling in 2014 and finished fourth in the under-19 time trials at the SA National Road Championships in Oudtshoorn last year.
This year, he was awarded his Western Province cycling colours.
Vuyo started cycling in 2016 when he was still a pupil at the same school. He has since been focusing on his cycling and helping to manage the development cycling team at Matthew Goniwe.
He is currently the captain of The Sports Trust cycling team.
Two weeks ago, in his first race as a member of the Kinetics Pro Cycling team, Vuyo won King of We Benefit 99er race in Durbanville. He came in fourth overall at 2hr29min09sec just behind Clint Hendricks at 2hr28min59sec.
In first place was Craig Boyes followed by Chris Cronje, both at 2hr28min51sec.
Vuyolwethu was unable to compete in this race as he needed to attend matric classes.
The We Benefit 99er Cycle Tour is the third largest race in the Western Cape and one of the favourites on the cycling calendar.
Vuyo says cycling has given him the space to show his talent.
“Being part of the elite development cycling has been a major stepping stone towards realising the dream of one day riding professionally. It’s all starting to happen now. I love this sport,” says Vuyo.
Vuyolwethu says he was motivated to start cycling at school after watching cycling races on TV.
“Now that I have been selected for the Kinetics Pro Cycling team, I tell myself that nothing can stop me. I love cycling and I’m 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,” he says. Â
The Sports Trust development cycling programme manager Mike Tippet says Vuyo and Vuyolwethu are the face of the programme and have worked hard to achieve selection into the professional development cycling team.
“We’re incredibly proud of them. Over the past couple of years the programme has seen a 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 that included Vuyo and Vuyolwethu, both of whom have triumphed over difficult circumstances,” he says.