Gearing up for the UCI B World Championships are the members of the SA Development team, sponsored by Intaka Tech, manufacturer and marketer of innovative and valuable equipment, in particular water purification plants and on-site oxygen and medical air generation plants. Intaka Tech is also the primary sponsor of the entire Championships, and is proud to be helping to make this challenging and awe-inspiring event possible.
The UCI B World Championships, create an opportunity for countries where cycling is not necessarily a major sport to qualify cyclists for the Olympic Games, is an event where young, talented riders can gain experience. As the host country, South Africa was given special dispensation to enter a development team.
This cycling event presents a gruelling, yet highly rewarding, competition for members of the SA Development team. The event is for many of the members the chance of a lifetime, and a superb opportunity to fulfil their cycling goals, dreams and aspirations.
The team comprises 15 members, both male and female, ranging in ages from 19 to 22. They are from Boland, Western Province, Limpopo Province, North West and Gauteng, including places as far a field as Polokwane and Soweto.
Prince Maluleke, a member of the SA Development Team said, “This is the challenge of a lifetime and an invaluable chance to further my cycling career… I started training for the UCI Championships even before I knew I had been chosen as a member of the team, and I am thrilled to be given the opportunity to take part.”
Maluleke first showed his promise last year when he became the first rider of colour to win a tour in South Africa, this being the Africycle Tour. He also subsequently placed twice in the seven day Tour de Libya event.
Luthando Kaka is a general all rounder and has represented South Africa in a number of international cycling tours. He has been instrumental in promoting cycling as a sport in previously disadvantaged communities. He is a excellent role model and ambassador for the sport and commented, “I plan to use my experience to motivate and help increase the standard of the SA Development team”.
Another team member, Jeanine Binneman, started mountain biking at the age of ten, which became the start of an illustrious cycling career. Last year alone, she attained no less than ten places in top national and global cycling events.
Binneman enthused, “Cycling is my life – it is in my blood… I dream of becoming South Africa’s best and of doing really well in the 2012 Olympics. Closer to home I would like to have an influence in developing women’s cycling.”
Intaka Tech is passionate about making a difference to the lives of those it touches. In sponsoring the SA Development Team, it is doing just that.
Dr Gastón Savoi, Chairman of Intaka Tech said, “We at Intaka Tech are delighted to be sponsoring the SA Development team to compete in an event of the magnitude of the UCI B World Championships, and to be able to make a difference in the lives of the team members… it is very rewarding to see that the team members are as passionate about cycling as we are about supplying purified potable water and on-site oxygen and medical air to Africa, and in so doing enhancing the lives of the communities in which we operate.”
He adds that the Championships are certainly the result of a truly remarkable joint effort by riders, coaches, organisers and sponsors.