Johannesburg – The year 2014 will be remembered as a year where local cyclists were finally given the recognition they deserved after Ashleigh Moolman Pasio, Ernst van Dyk and Justine Asher were among the big winners at the SA Sport Awards.
Cyclists made a clean-sweep in each category where they received a nomination. SA road and time trial champion Pasio scooped the Sportswoman of the Year award, while Paralympic hand-cyclist Asher won the Sportswoman of the Year with a Disability award, and wheelchair racer and hand-cyclist Van Dyk the Sportsman of the Year with a Disability.
While on national duty, Pasio won a bronze medal in the women's road race, in her first appearance at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.
She then headed the SA elite women's team at the UCI Road World Championships, where she finished in the top 20 of the women's road race.
While riding for Norway's UCI team Hitec Products, Pasio pulled off a string of remarkable performances.
She rode to a second place finish at the Le Samyn des Dames Ä a women's race in Belgium Ä and finished in the top 15 of the Giro d'Italia Internazionale Femminile (Giro Rosa), the toughest stage race in women's road cycling. She ended her season ranked among the world's top 30 in her category.
Back on home soil, she finished second behind UCI World champion Marianne Vos at the Momentum 94.7 Cycle Challenge road race, while the men's race was won by Namibia's Till Drobisch.
Van Dyk was earlier in the year crowned the 2014 UCI World Champion in the road race.
Asher had an outstanding season where she was crowned UCI World Champion in the time trial and road race, also winning the UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup.
While the many achievements by cyclists on the local and international stage shone a spotlight on South African talent, the situation on the home front was not as positive.
Alleged maladministration by Cathsseta Ä the Culture, Arts, Tourism, Hospitality, Sports Sector Education Training Authority and the main sponsor of the Mzansi Tour, could rob South Africa of its only UCI-graded road cycling stage race. The company was forced to withdraw its sponsorship for the event after being put under administration.
Expressing his views on the issue, Cycling SA (CSA) president William Newman said the country's riders would be left suffering without the Mzansi Tour.
“It's disappointing that the tour is at risk as it's an important event on our calendar,” Newman said.
“The race is an opportunity for our riders to compete with other international riders across the world, collecting crucial UCI points.
“If the event is postponed due to lack of funding, it will really affect our qualification for the All Africa Games next year in Brazzaville, Congo and will also deprive riders of accumulating points for Olympic qualification.”
On a brighter note, in a move aimed towards boosting women's cycling in the country, CSA launched South Africa's first ever Women's Commission, spearheaded by Lise Olivier.
The Commission will implement strategies for sustainable growth and development within women's cycling.
Team MTN-Qhubeka made history when it took part in its first Grand Tour race Äthe 2014 La Vuelta a Espana.
The team was also granted a UCI pro-continental license for 2015, renewing the team's UCI status for the third consecutive year.
Daryl Impey was another top achiever this season, flying the South African flag while riding for UCI ProTeam Orica-GreenEDGE.
The all-rounder, who last year became the first South African stage leader during the Tour de France, maintained his fine form by winning Canada's Tour of Alberta, a road race that features a prologue and five stages.
He also won the third stage of the Bayern-Rundfahrt (Tour of Bavaria) in Germany, in May.
The 30-year old was also crowned the national Time Trial champion ahead of Jay Thomson and Jaco Venter, who finished second and third respectively.
He was, however, embroiled in a doping controversy after testing positive for the banned substance Probenecid at the SA road championships in February.
Impey was later cleared of the charges after an explanation, regarding the presence of the substance in his system, was accepted at a hearing in August.
The action on the domestic road circuit showcased the rise of local talent, while mountain bike races dominated the local calendar.
Nolan Hoffman continued to be the undisputed king of the local road race classics, winning his third Amashova Durban Classic title and his maiden Cape Argus Cycle Tour victory after 10 attempts.
He also grabbed wins at the GoWest criterium series and the Herald Cycle Tour in Port Elizabeth.
On the track, Hoffman was crowned the SA Omnium Champion, while Maroesjka Matthee took the women's title.
The Bonitas Pro Cycling team reigned supreme in this year's Engen cycle in the city series, winning all the men's races in the challenge.
HB Kruger gave the team its win in Pretoria, while Dylan Girdlestone took the honours in Cape Town and Durban.
The women's event was won by Lise Olivier, who won the Pretoria and Durban events, while Maroesjka Matthee won in Cape Town.
Herman Fouche, who had an outstanding season, bagged victories in the Campus2Campus Classique in Potchefstroom, claimed overall victory at the Badplaas Tour in Mpumalanga and an elusive victory at the Dis-Chem Ride for Sight.
Other big winners on the domestic scene were Westvaal-BMC rider JC Nel, who claimed his maiden classic victory in the Jock Cycle Classique after securing the overall win in the 151km race in a time of three hours, 58 minutes and 41 seconds (3:58:41).
Nic Dougall climbed to his second successive victory in the four-day Tour de Boland. The MTN-Qhubeka rider, who then rode for the feeder team, claimed the overall honours in 9:53:03.
Reynard Butler and Olivier were crowned new champions of the Tour Durban cycle race, while MTN Qhubeka's Jacques Janse van Rensburg was the overall winner of the Mzansi Tour.
On the mountain bike, Kevin Evans and Max Knox picked up the Sani2c mountain bike race title, while Johann Rabie and Gawie Combrinck claimed their maiden win in the nine-day JoBerg2c mountain bike race.
The Team Bulls pair of Simon Stiebjahn and Tim Bohme secured the overall title in the UCI ranked Cape Pioneer Trek international mountain bike stage race in October. The women's overall title went to Catherine Williamson and Alice Pirard.
In her first year as a full-time mountain bike racer, South African marathon champion, Robyn de Groot won the Nissan Trailseeker mountain bike series title after winning all races in the five-event series.
When it came to national titles, MTN-Qhubeka rider Louis Meintjes claimed top honours in the elite men's race at the SA Road Cycling Championships.
James Reid and De Groot claimed the elite men and women's national titles at the SA National MTB Marathon Championships.
Tiaan Odendaal claimed his third consecutive men's national title at the Downhill Championships held at the Thaba Trails in Gauteng.
Mariske Strauss and Rourke Croeser were crowned cross country Champions, while Kyle Dodd and Maia Rawlins were crowned BMX National Champions.
Strauss was also crowned African champ in the cross country event at the African Continental Championships, while Philip Buys claimed the men's title.
Andrew Neethling and Hayley-Ann Adamson came out tops at the African downhill championships. SA Masters mountain biker Nedene Cahill made the country proud when she took first prize at the UCI Mountain Bike Masters World Championships in the Women's cross-country 30-34 age category in Norway. – Sapa