Two days after her gold medal in the time trial, Lylanie Lauwrens (South Africa) captured her second African Continental Championship on Sunday in the road race. At the Kigali circuit in Rwanda, she finished 2:29 ahead of her teammate Lise Olivier. She was in front of the race after nine kilometers and kapt her advantage until the end.
"The team tactic was to stay together as long as possible," she said, "but the distance was very short [three laps of 12 kilometers - Ed.], and I'm not a sprinter. I'm sorry but I felt strong in the climbs so I attacked."
Lauwrens launched an attack as her team was dominating the race - Lise Olivier and Joanna Van De Winkel were in the lead group. South Africa was missing their leader, Lizanne Naud, who didn't start because of stomach problems, but the team controlled the race from the first climb, at kilometer six.
"South African girls will attack as many times as it's necessary to drop the others," Aurélie Halbwachs (Mauritius Island) had said before the race. She was the only non South African rider in the lead group. The 24-year-old, who is working to open a fitness center in her country, was third of the race, ahead of Van De Winkel. Her podium finish kept a South African hat-trick from happening.
The 26-year-old Lauwrens was riding in Rwanda her first African Continental Championships. She started competing three years ago after finding she enjoyed cycling as an healthy sport. She is a member of the professional South African Team MTN.
In 2010, Lauwrens won three races and stood on the podium 11 times. She represented her pro team in Europe at some World Cup events: in Binda, Italy, in the Tour of Flanders, and in the Drenthe World Cup in the Netherlands. She is hoping to return to Europe soon to ride some of the top races on the UCI Women's calendar and improve her results in those races.
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