Hayley Preen, new African road cycling champion, tells a story of multidisciplinarity through her sporting journey. And not just on pedals, even though in South Africa the mix between road, gravel, and mountain bike activities is almost mandatory. It's inherent in the philosophy of interpreting cycling, just ask Alan Haterly, a first-magnitude mountain bike star who also joined the Jayco Alula ranks.

Preen is a former horsewoman who performed well in international show jumping competitions on her white horse: a passion for equestrian sports inherited from her mother, while the 27-year-old's father, now registered with Team Honeycomb 226ers, is a running enthusiast. To top it all, she practically grew up in stables, and in 2016 she was called up to the Salomon Running Academy's (an international experience that led her to compete in various trails and skyrunning events).

Trail runs along the ocean were indeed accompanied by bike rides, but these were sporadic and limited to the summer season. The call of cycling became stronger relatively recently, inspired by her countrywoman Ashleigh Moolman. Yes, because Ashley and her colleagues are motivated by the current Ag Insurance Soudal Team representative, a 39-year-old based in Girona, Spain, after joining Lotto Ladies in 2010. Preen, who at the African championships preceded Eritrean Fessehaye, second at 3", and Rwandan Nyrarukundo, third at 18", wins the second continental title of 2025 after the gravel championship.

Competitive in climbing and time trials (2024 national champion), the Cape Town cyclist also finished third in the Cape Epic at the start of the season, together with another South African, Haw. There's no didactic listing, having to go by subtraction, when citing the victories of an athlete who lives for sport with the great enthusiasm of someone accustomed to observing new and vast horizons. "I have always been very competitive in every sport I practiced", for example, winning national titles in equestrian sports and winning an international race in China, making it to the Salomon Running Academy in Germany. My focus has become cycling" - Hayley said when in April 2024 she was preparing to compete in a long stage race in the United States. Saturday, November 22, 2025, became a turning point in Preen's career, to the point that the press office of the Championships went all out with their emphasis; "along a road painted with heat (if 35 degrees seem few to you, try pedaling, ed.), hopes and heart, Hayley raised the race's pace. Her wheels were singing, her strength was speaking. The Women's Elite race crowned a cyclist who transformed determination into the poetry of movement. A champion in every sense."

www.raggidafrica.it

RESULTS

1.  Preen Hayley - South Africa in 3:10:31
2. Fessehaye Birikti - Eritrea a  0:03
3. Nyirarukundo Claudette - Rwanda a 0:18
4. Mwamikazi Jazilla - Rwanda    st
5. Watango Serkalen Taye - Ethiopia a 0:24
6. Dawit Adiam - Eritrea a 0:30
7. Bone Lisa - South Africa a 0:35
8. Nirere Xaverine - Rwanda a 0:47
9. Krugel Anri - Namibia st
10. Fiseha Suzana - Eritrea st