The Sunday News
Simba Jemwa, Sports Correspondent
RISING cycling club, Unimills-Hokoyo have made their intentions clear ahead of the annual Volta A Bulawayo Road Race which begins with a time trial at the National University of Science and Technology this Friday.
The young club is hoping to continue with the form that saw them sweep the podium at the Zimbabwe Road Cycling Championships which were held in Harare last month.
Unimills-Hokoyo captain, Andrew Chikwaka said his fellow riders have been training hard for a while and were ready to take on allcomers in the Volta. 55 riders are expected to compete for the title in the competition which will be over four stages.
“We have been preparing for this race as we prepare for all other races. We work hard to make sure we are all fit and raring to go,” Chikwaka said.
“Like every other athlete, all of our riders want to win and all of us are going to the Volta with only one thing in my mind: to win,” he added.
Chikwaka said his team would be fielding six riders including two guest riders who could be joining the team. The two riders are already in Bulawayo for the Volta and have been training with Unimills-Hokoyo for the past week.
The Vola A Bulawayo road race has attracted 55 riders from across the country with teams from Harare and Zvishavane having confirmed their participation. The organisers said they were happy with the number of entrants for the first Volta since 2019 when it was won by Unimills-Hokoyo rider, Advocate Phiri.
Race spokesperson, Anton Bana said that all was in place for the event which is being organised and run by Flying eagles Cycling Club. He said all logistics were now in place for the successful hosting of the road race.
“We are more than happy with the number of entrants considering that we haven’t raced in almost two years due to the Covid-10 pandemic. We have put all logistics and place and we believe that this race, which is 25 years old, will be one of the best in its history,” Bana said.
Meanwhile, Unimills-Hokoyo team owner, Davis Muhambi said his team would be using this race as the last competitive outing before heading to South Africa on November 16 to take part in the 947 Ride Joburg Road Race that will begin on November 21 in Johannesburg.
Six riders will travel to South Africa including two former Tswakai Cycling Club riders currently in training camp with Unimills-Hokoyo riders. @RealSimbaJemwa
