African Cycling Championships 2007

Flying from Sao Tome via Libreville and Douala, then the transfer from Douala to Yaounde by luxury bus, 3 hours.

On Friday, 9 November 2008, the first two events valid for the African men's and women's time trial titles took place. Thirty athletes representing 12 countries took part in the men's event. Eneio Pereira, with a time of 21'11", took 15th place among the best African athletes. Eneio rode an exciting race, managing to catch three athletes who had started ahead of him and to contain the attack of the Moroccan Er Ragragoui, who reached the finish line a few metres earlier. The course, made up of a very difficult circuit with steep climbs, was particularly suited to the Sao Tome cyclist, who managed to stay at the level of the best African riders. The race was won by the South African White Nicholas, who finished 30" ahead of his compatriot Thomson Robert.

Serafim Fernandes, the second representative of Sao Tome and Principe, took 23rd place. It should be noted that most of the participating athletes had the opportunity to sharpen their preparation at the Tour of Burkina Faso, whereas the Sao Tome athletes had few chances to race during the year. That makes Eneio's result all the more valuable. In the nations classification, the Sao Tome team finished seventh, beating countries such as Gabon, the Central African Republic, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Ivory Coast.

The women's event was dominated by the South African athletes, who took first and second place on the podium, ahead of an athlete from Mauritius. Men's and women's road race

The men's road race of the third edition of the African Cycling Championships was dominated by the South African athletes, who took the first three places, with Nicholas White first, Johann Rabier second and Robert Thomson third. Fourth place went to the Moroccan Jelloul Adil. The pace was high from the first laps, with continuous attacks from the Eritrean team, which in the end paid for its efforts and could not hold off the final attacks launched by the South Africans.

The race, which started with 67 cyclists representing 14 countries such as South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mauritius, Malawi, Kenya, Rwanda, Eritrea, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Central Africa, Morocco, Guinea Conakry and Sao Tome and Principe, was run on a very selective 7.5 km circuit in the centre of Yaounde, with a climb of about 1 km repeated 18 times. After 3 laps the main peloton was already down to about 40 riders, among them the 2 representatives of Sao Tome and Principe.

On the 4th lap a crash involving 6 riders from the lead group also caught Eneio Pereira, who suffered no injuries but only material damage that forced him to replace his rear wheel, losing precious minutes that took him away from the lead group.

On the 10th lap the two Sao Tome cyclists abandoned the race, while only a very small number of competitors remained in the competition.

Only 18 cyclists managed to finish the 134 km of the race.

The women's event, meanwhile, saw three more South African cyclists on the podium, with Marissa Van Der Merwe taking the continental title, Lynette Burger second and Yolandi Du Toit third.