Team Kenya’s Monica Jelimo has expressed satisfaction with their performance in the mixed team relay at the CAC Road Cycling African Championships in Kisumu, despite finishing fifth in Thursday’s 40.8km race.

Kenya clocked 59:30.56 to finish outside the medal positions in a competitive race won by South Africa, who dethroned defending champions Mauritius.

South Africa claimed gold in 56:04.38, while Mauritius settled for silver in 56:17.27. Rwanda completed the podium, taking bronze in 56:30.13.

Jelimo said Kenya’s riders coordinated well on a technical course that demanded precision through corners and powerful accelerations on the exits.

“The race was nice. We had good coordination as a team and did our very best,” Jelimo said.

“The course was fair, although it had too many corners. It was flowing for us.”

South Africa’s victory came with an unexpected Kenyan touch, with Magda Nieuwoudt crediting ugali for helping fuel the team’s performance.

“The secret to our strong race was the white ugali,” Nieuwoudt said. “It’s more filling, porridge-like, and it’s good.”

Her teammate Lucy Young was equally delighted, describing the victory as particularly satisfying given South Africa’s limited recent experience in the discipline.

Young said it was the team’s first team time trial in three years, making their gold-medal performance even more rewarding.

“The race was amazing. South Africa has not done the team time trial for two years. This was the first in three years, and it was amazing out there,” she said.

Young explained that the men set the pace with a strong opening effort before handing over to the women, who maintained the momentum to secure victory.

“The boys started us off. They were very fast, and I think they had the fastest time out of all the countries. Then the girls picked it up from there,” she said.

“We were amazing, and I was so proud of all of us.”

Despite the victory, Young acknowledged the technical demands of the course, saying familiarity with its corners was crucial to maintaining speed.

“The course is very technical. I wouldn’t call it a normal individual time trial course, but once you learn the corners, it’s good,” she said.

Meanwhile, Rwanda’s Eric Muhoza said his team had to overcome an early setback after one rider withdrew during the first lap due to illness.

“The race was tough. We lost our teammate in the first lap, so we had to continue with just two of us. The cyclist was not feeling well,” Muhoza said.

Despite the setback, Rwanda held on to secure bronze, finishing ahead of Kenya in the battle for the remaining podium places.