CHERISE TAYLOR, Road Race

Date of birth: 6 November 1989
Beijing event: Road race (10 August)
Previous Olympics: None
Bike: Raleigh Team Ltd
To me, the Olympic Games selection is a life-long dream. To get chosen for the Olympic squad and achieving this at the age of 18, I know I’m on the road to success and have a long career ahead of me!
In Beijing I reckon I’ll try and gain as much experience as possible. It’s important for me not to put too much pressure on myself for this year’s Olympics. I feel that I can still represent South Africa for another four Olympics and that this year I must just try and learn what the Games is all about. I am not really sure what to expect going into the race since we haven’t done much racing abroad this year. I will however give it everything I have and try and get the best possible result!
The Olympic route is going to be really tough. There is a lot of climbing so it will definitely come down to strength more than tactics.
The gold medal favourite is very difficult to predict. It’s likely to be a strong climber that has a strong team. Perhaps from Australia, Germany or Italy.
Bicycling’s comments: The women’s road race was only introduced to the Olympics at the Los Angeles Games in 1984. Women’s cycling has gained significant global appeal since then and Van der Merwe and Taylor have a formidable challenge ahead of them in 126.3km race. Both are accomplished climbers, having shown they can ride with the world’s best. But beating the world’s best is another thing, especially since the two women were only officially announced by SASCOC as being part of the Olympic cycling squad a month before their race and had no international racing exposure when they needed it most.

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