Robyn de Groot, born 26 December 1982, is a South African cyclist.[1] She cycled professionally on the road from 2006 to 2012. Representing South Africa for 6 consecutive years, she represented South Africa at 4 World Championships, the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India and the 2012 London Summer Olympics. She was unable to finish within the time limit due to an early crash and mechanical problems.
In 2012, she retired from professional road cycling. She returned to her profession in Biokinetics. Robyn took up mountain biking in 2013, primarily as a hobby, it soon became another avenue she excelled at. She won the MTN National marathon mountain bike series proving the consistency of her results. Robyn went on to win the SA marathon title on her first attempt, and was selected to represent her country at the Marathon world championships in Austria, where she finished 19th. In 2014 Robyn successfully defended her National XCM title for the 2nd consecutive year, and finished 6th at World Championships held in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.
In March, 2017, De Groot, riding with German Sabine Spitz, finished the Absa Cape Epic in third position after a string of setbacks – mainly the German’s two major crashes – put paid to the pre-race favourites’ chances. It was de Groot’s third Cape Epic. She had finished 2nd in 2015 and as an individual finisher in 2016 when her partner pulled out of the race due to illness.
In September 2019, De Groot placed third in the elite women’s race at the UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships held in Grächen, Switzerland
Early life
editBorn and grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa. She attended Panorama Primary, followed by Northliff High School where she matriculated in 2000. Robyn studied Sport psychology at the University of Johannesburg, and went on to do her honors in Biokinetics at the University of Cape Town (2004). Qualification: B.A Sport Psychology B.S.c (Med)(Hons) Exercise Science(Biokinetics)
Palmarès
edit2006
2007
2008 - world Championships. Varese. Italy
2009
2010 - Commonwealth Games. Delhi, India - world championships. Melbourne, Australia
2011 - World Championships. Copenhagen, Denmark
2012 - London Olympian (Road) - World Championships. Netherlands
2013 - National XCM champion : SA - World championships. Brixental, Austria. 19th
2014 - National XCM Champion : South Africa - World Championships. Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. 6th
2017 - 3rd Absa Cape Epic Women's category
2019 - Placed 3rd at UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships, Switzerland
UCI teams - road cycling
- MTN ladies continental cycling team 2010
- Lotto Honda ladies team 2011
- Lotto-Belisol 2012
Current sponsor - Mountain Biking (2014) - Title Sponsors: Biogen Toyota - Co-sponsors : Trek, Craft, Bontrager, Cyclelab, Nike Vision
References
edit- ^ "Robyn de Groot Bio, Stats, and Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
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