LEADING Zimbabwe rider, Skye Davidson returned to the team with a commendable fifth-place finish in the Elite Women Road African Championships in Sharm ElSheikh in Egypt on Sunday.
After a five-year hiatus, the 24-year-old was making her first return to the Continental showcase.
She was the first Zimbabwean home in a strong field comprising 35 top female riders from Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cote d’ Ivoire, Cameroon, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guinea, Mauritius, Morocco, Rwanda, South Africa.
She managed to scoop up 100 UCI points as she marked her entry to the World Championships.
So fiercely contested was the race and fellow Zimbabwe Elite female rider Helen Mitchell who was stuck together with the rest of the girls in the peloton was only four seconds behind Davidson but ended up in position 21. Egypt’s Ebitssam Zayed won the race while Kimberley De Billot of Mauritius and Burkina Faso’s Awa Bamogo finished second and third.
Both Davidson and Mitchell managed to avoid a disastrous crash at the surge for the finish. The duo also still had the courtesy of wishing Zimbabwe Olympic Committee president Thabani Gonye through a video immediately after completing their race.
The UK based Davidson was thrilled with her performance.
“I’m thrilled with the sprint. I managed to get in a good position with Helen close to the front and then jumped onto the Egyptian girl’s wheel when the sprint started quite far out. She came past the Mauritian who was in the lead. Still, I couldn’t hold on, so I kept going and had another sprint train come past me on the left with Burkina Faso (I think) and Algeria,” Davidson said of the 85km race.
“So I managed to finish just behind the Algerian girl and get 5th. I’m pretty happy with that and more than anything, and this whole trip has reignited the fire that racing for my country brings. I’m so excited to keep doing that and see what the future can hold.”
Meanwhile, Advocate Phiri settled for number 41 in the Elite Men’s race. Amos Chakaza and Gerald Sibanda did not finish the race at the same period.
