Simon Kessler's French Connection

As far as professional cycling teams go, it is doubtful that many fans will remember Catavana–AS Corbeil–Essonnes–Cedico. Born out of the Parisian club AS Corbeil–Essonnes, Catavana only lasted one season, that of 1994. A closer look at its roster, however, reveals some interesting names – Sean Kelly and Marc Madiot both completed their final racing seasons with the small outfit while future star Lars Michaelsen launched his career in the white and green strip. Michealsen would, in fact, win a few European races in his neo-pro year and venture back to South African shores later that year to defend his Boland Bank Tour title. Unbeknownst to most, though, is that a young South African rider would make up part of the Catavana squad tasked with helping the emerging Dane achieve repeat success that year.

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For many years, Simon Kessler was a stalwart in the South African professional cycling scene. A key part of Doug Ryder's early teams like IBM-Lotus and Microsoft, his palmares includes two national road titles as well as being a regular member of the SA National Team to races like Le Tour de Langkawi. Coaching was – and still is – a big part of his life and he developed into a well-respected road captain and mentor to his younger teammates as his career progressed. The aforementioned credentials, though, are but a snapshot of Simon's greater cycling and life story. Lesser known perhaps are his moving to Europe straight after school to pursue a professional contract. Or experiencing – and overcoming – career threatening injuries. Not to mention driving all over Europe as an 18-year-old, often alone.

Whatever Happened to John-Lee Augustyn?

Imagine that you are a passionate cyclist immersed in a two-wheeled holiday through the heart of Italy. The terrain is varied, complete with tough climbs, sharp descents, breathtaking scenery and even a peak into the Giro 'd Italia on one of the days. You are guided by a longtime Italian resident, a soft-spoken fellow with a distinctly South African accent. He exudes the ease and grace on his steed that is reserved for only a select few – perfect symmetry and pedalling stroke that is best described as supple. Imagine finding out that this guy has suffered on these very roads, and thousands more, has won obscure races in faraway places, been a formative member of cycling's first “super team”, and has even fallen off the side of the highest paved road in Europe.

Sound far-fetched? Well, no, not actually.

Brent Copeland and VC Lugano

As he stepped into the Lampre-Daikin campervan, Brent Copeland felt his heartrate rising. By now in his late-20s, Brent had already spent seven years plying his trade in European cycling. Starting off as an aspiring elite amateur rider in Switzerland in 1994, he then assumed the role of soigneur at the elite and then professional level. And now his unplanned trajectory had taken another step; he was now the youngest sporting director in the upper echelons of professional cycling. And as he explains, it was a role that made him particularly nervous.

'I was only 27 years old then,' remembers Brent. 'Lampre-Daikin had promoted me to the role of sporting director (DS) because of a change in the UCI rules at the end of 2000. Up until then, I'd been working for the team as a soigneur but had always driven the second team car in the race convoy. The rule change now required the second car to be driven by a DS and because I already had a DS license, the team asked me to assume the role. It was a little nerve wracking in the beginning to say the least.'

Mark Beneke 1987

The ADR cycling team is perhaps best known for being home to a resurgent Greg LeMond and his narrow Tour de France victory of 1989. ADR (AD Renting)-Bottechia was possibly the only organization that was willing to sign the American star after his suffering a near-fatal shooting accident some two years earlier. But many other notable riders came through its ranks over the years through its original guise as Fangio (late-1970s) and ultimately Tulip (1991-1992), Johan Museeuw, Eddy Planckaert, Adri van der Poel, Colin Sturgess and Allan Peiper being amongst the most notable.

Unbeknownst to many, though, is the fact that the team was also home to a few South African riders during the years of sporting isolation. Starting with Robbie McIntosh in 1980, both Willie Engelbrecht and Mark Beneke joined the ADR-Fangio-IOC-MBK ranks seven years later, albeit via a somewhat circuitous route.

Jonathan Barber - Still At It

Old professional athletes, there are not that many. In triathlon terms, there are only a handful of names that crop up, the recently retired Cameron Brown being the most notable. But what about former elite triathletes trying to re-enter the professional after a lengthy hiatus? Are there any examples?

'Since I began working towards my goal, Bob McRae earned his pro license aged 52 and competed in one pro race the following year,' says Jonathan Barber. 'Bob was unable to amass enough points to get his pro card renewed. Besides Melanie McQuaid who raced at Kona in 2023 aged 50, Bob is the oldest athlete to qualify as a professional that I know of'.

Ten years ago, Jonathan Barber was working towards a pretty lofty goal – earn back his USAT professional triathlon license. A past provincial champion and elite competitor from South Africa, Jonathan had continued to race abroad in the elite category after moving to the United States in the mid-1990s. Amassing some 74 wins over his career (44 in the US), he moved on to a real job in 2005, and hence a decade long sabbatical from top level sport.

Had Jonathan been successful in his quest to regain his USAT Elite License, he would have been the oldest pro triathlete by far. No easy task by any means, given the strict criteria employed by the national governing body. But it all went quiet, until recently when Jonathan checked in stating that he was now once again attempting the seemingly impossible, this time at the age of 57!

Last time we spoke you were working towards an attempt to earn your pro license back again. Give us an update – were you successful?

In short – no. I had actually been working toward the goal for two years before sharing my plans with you – so it has been 11 years since I started this process. But I have not succeeded – yet.

Greg von Holdt's Athletic Range

If one does a Google search for the 1992 Milk Race, a few cryptic entries pop up. A 12 day stage race across the United Kingdom open to both professional and amateur riders predominates, as does the fact that the race was won by unheralded Irishman Conor Henry. The race included national teams from a host of countries, as well as a sprinkling of British and European professional teams, all bidding for good results in the fortnight's romp around "Mud Island".

Also on the startlist was the South African National Team, the first official cycling team from that country to compete overseas after the lifting of sporting sanctions and, like the other national teams present, made up of riders looking for Olympic selection to the Barcelona Games later that same year. Needless to say it was quite an eye opener for the South Africans, and a brutal one at that, as SA team member Greg von Holdt remembers.

Johan van der Berg: Neo-pro 2000

On Sunday 24 April 1999, Johan van der Berg left his Belgian home on his daily training ride. In his first year competing as an elite amateur cyclist in Europe, Johan was following a path so many South African riders had done prior – make the pilgrimage to the Continent in order to try and get noticed by a top flight team in hope of a professional contract. Not many, if any, had really succeeded up to that point, most getting their heads kicked in before heading home. Except for two: Robert Hunter and David George (three if you include Zimbabwean Tim Jones who was racing in Italy for Amore & Vita) had excelled enough in the greater European amateur scene to catch the eye of Lampre and US Postal Service respectively. Knowing that neo-pro Hunter was on the startlist for that year's Amstel Gold Race made Johan's training ride that day slightly different – he rode into the Netherlands, destination Maastricht, to not only catch some of the racing action, but also to hopefully connect with a young Hunter and catch up on some news.