He Was Too Scared to Race. Now He’s SA Road Champion. | Daniyal Matthews
Daniyal Matthews is the 2025 SA National Road Champion and African track champion —
and the first person of colour in over a decade to win the Elite Men's national
road race in South Africa. He races with 7Eleven Cliqq Roadbike Philippines,
riding Elves bikes, and is competing at UCI Continental level. He grew up in
Cape Town's Southern Suburbs, started racing on the track at age eight because
his father dragged him there, and spent years gripping the start line with so
much anxiety he didn't actually enjoy cycling until his mid-teens.
This episode is the full story: the sprint finish that made SA cycling history,
what it means to represent a country where your face doesn't often appear on the
podium, what life at a Continental team racing in Asia actually looks like,
and an honest conversation about road safety, the motorist-cyclist tensions that
cost lives in South Africa, and what it will take to change the culture.
Dave and Daniyal also talk about the state of South African track cycling,
why the Bellville Velodrome matters, the generation of SA riders who are quietly
pulling the sport toward something that looks like a golden era — and why SA
Champs wasn't even Daniyal's primary target.
# === CHAPTERS ===================================
0:00 — Meet Daniyal Matthews: SA Road Champion & African Track Champion
1:40 — The Elves signing that lit up social media
2:29 — Growing up in Cape Town's Southern Suburbs
3:08 — Racing track at eight years old — and hating every second
5:20 — A father's obsession: Belgium, UCI track teams, and a cycling inheritance*
10:29 — Track cycling in South Africa: Bellville Velodrome and the access problem*
27:30 — Career goals and why SA Champs was a bonus, not a target*
31:11 — Road safety: the fatal accident, the comment sections, and the real cost*
37:23 — South African cycling's future: Tshenolo, the golden era, and what's next*
40:06 — Matric, Asia, and the long road to Continental racing*
# === LISTEN ON THE GO ===========================
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Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/active-hobo/id1846864699 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/active-hobo/id1846864699]
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