South African Veteran Team Seek Success In Mauritius

Press Release : Release Centre

A South African veteran cycling club team will compete in the Tour of Mauritius which starts on Wednesday, with the ambitious aim of trying to win the international event overall.

The fact that former top South African professional, Andrew McLean, will captain his Toyota Supercycling veteran team, somewhat softens the term ‘ambitious’, following a string of impressive performances by the 45-year-old against much younger opposition this year.

The six-stage, five-day race has attracted international teams from Europe, Africa and also surrounding island countries like Reunion and the Seychelles.

“We’ll be the only veteran team in the race, but we’ve prepared for it as if we were professionals, only we’ve had to fit in our training around family and work commitments,” smiled McLean.

The fact that Stage 2 is a 14.2km individual time trial will suit McLean, a time-trial specialist throughout his career and a rider that still beats current professional racers to win local time trial events.

“There’s a big climb on Stage 3 apparently and Stage 5 is also hilly,” remarked McLean, who is also an accomplished climber. Hopefully we’ll have at least two riders in the top end of the field after the time trial so that we have more than one option for the rest of the race.”

Joining McLean in the 40-years-plus team are Bruce Diesel, Issy Zimmerman, Mark Thijs and Kevin Prinsloo.