South African Daryl Impey has won his fourth national time trial championship in five years, successfully defending his title in Mbombela today.
 

Impey started as a clear favourite for the 42.7km race having previously won the 2011, 2013 and 2014 titles.

The 30-year-old didn’t disappoint, stopping the clock at 53minutes 27seconds, a convincing one-minute 51seconds faster than his closest competitor Reinhardt Janse van Rensburg (Team MTN-Qhubeka).

“I had a really good ride and it was great to come here with a bit of pressure and then pull it off,” Impey said.

“The course was quite well suited to me with a lot of up and down and some quite technical parts too. I could see that I took some time out of my competitors early on, so I just put in everything I had to stay in front.

The South African road race championship will be held this Saturday, 7 February and despite having numbers against him, Impey is looking for a strong ride.

“I'm stoked to have this jersey for another year and I'm obviously really motivated for the road race on Saturday,” Impey said after his time trial.

“I'll be up against a very strong MTN team and they are clearly the favourites, so I'll have to race really smart to be in with a chance to take another jersey.

“But above all, I'm happy with today and where my shape is at the moment."