Robyn de Groot, born 26 December 1982, is a South African cyclist. 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 The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, f ...

in Delhi, India and the

2012 London Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competi ...

. 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 Pietermaritzburg (; Zulu: umGungundlovu) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was founded in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. Its Zulu name umGungundlovu ...

, South Africa. In March, 2017, De Groot, riding with German

Sabine Spitz Sabine Spitz (born 27 December 1971 in Herrischried, Baden-Württemberg) is a German cross country cyclist. She won bronze in Women's cross-country at the 2004 Summer Olympics, silver in the event in the 2012 Summer Olympics and gold in the ...

, 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 The Absa Cape Epic, founded by Kevin Vermaak and also known as the Cape Epic, is an annual mountain bike stage race held in the Western Cape, South Africa. First staged in 2004, it has been accredited as ''hors catégorie'' (beyond categoriza ...

. 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 The UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships is the world championship event for marathon mountain bike races. Inaugurated by the Union Cycliste Internationale in 2003, the event is held annually in single classes for men and women. The 200 ...

held in

Grächen Grächen is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Visp (district), Visp in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Valais in Switzerland. The village is situated at an altitude of on a terrace above St. Niklaus in the Ma ...

, Switzerland

Early life

Born and grew up in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

, 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 The University of Johannesburg (UJ) is a public university located in Johannesburg, South Africa. The University of Johannesburg came into existence on 1 January 2005 as the result of a merger between the Rand Afrikaans University (RAU), the Te ...

, and went on to do her honors in Biokinetics at the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...

(2004). Qualification: B.A Sport Psychology B.S.c (Med)(Hons) Exercise Science(Biokinetics)

Palmarès

2006 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

South African female cyclists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Cyclists from Johannesburg Olympic cyclists of South Africa Cyclists at the 2012 Summer Olympics South African people of Dutch descent Afrikaner people Cyclists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for South Africa 21st-century South African women {{ SouthAfrica-cycling-bio-stub