CALLUM ORMISTON SETS SIGHTS ON EUROPE 

Damian Murphy I ProTouch Africa   |  24 March 2023

Callum Ormiston, the 22-year-old South African, impressed at the recent Tour of Rwanda by taking victory on stage 5, the Queen stage of 2023 Rwandan tour. With this biggest win of his career under his belt, the young climber now has his sights set on Europe with his new team, Global 6 Cycling.

Ormiston’s Big Queen Stage Win – 2023 Tour du Rwanda

“Winning the queen stage of Tour of Rwanda was an amazing feeling. At just under 200km and 4500m of climbing, it was always going to be a tough day out on the bike. On the final climb it was already quite a select group so my national team teammate, Kent (Main), and I, had decided we were going to one-two the group going up the final climb. Eventually, closer to the top, I managed to get a gap and no one came with me. I was able to hold the gap to the finish line, which was an amazing feeling. If there was a way I could choose to win a stage, doing it like that was exactly the way I would’ve wanted to do it.” – Ormiston shared with ProTouch Africa.

U23 win at 2022 GP Kapuzbasi, Turkey was his first UCI 1.2 win

Ormiston who rode for the UCI registered ProTouch Continental Team from 2019 – 2022, raced a number of UCI events last year in Portugal and Turkey winning the U23 category at GP Kapuzbasi in Turkey and ending off his season at the UCI 2.Pro Le Tour de Langkawi in Malaysia. 

With ProTouch team mates at the 2022 Le Tour de Langkawi Photo: Tobisa 

Callum kicked off the 2023 season by preparing for the Tour of Rwanda, from his hometown of Nelspruit, South Africa. “My preseason training went quite well. I live in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga in the Lowveld and the roads out there are really great for training. So, while I didn’t do any specific training camps with my new team, Global 6 Cycling, I definitely got the hours in before Rwanda.”

“I am really grateful that ProTouch assisted me in securing the opportunity to join the Global 6 Continental Cycling team for this year, and to be racing internationally again. There are a few big tours coming up and the team is still deciding which ones I will do. I know that it will be doing the Arno Wallaard Memorial race in Netherlands on the 15th April and then Tour of Hellas, in Greece in May.”

Former U23 SA National Champion 2022 – Callum Ormiston Photo: Tobisa 

Before heading to Europe though, the South African climber’s first tour was Tour de Taiwan where he had a few top finishes along with helping to take home a Top 5 on GC for team mate, Giacomo Ballabio. Following on from the Tour de Taiwan, Orimiston will be heading over to Girona, Spain which will serve as his European base for the year, from which, he will prepare for the remainder of his 2023 season goals.

“I’ll be based in Girona, Spain for the entire race season and I’ll be sharing an apartment with another South African rider, Byron Munton. Winning a UCI 2.1 tour stage this year has definitely already been a tick of the box, but another goal would be to do that in Europe. So, either a stage result or a stage win in one of the tours I’ll be doing in Europe will be the aim for the rest of the year. A GC result would also be great, so I’ll definitely try to give that a go if the opportunity presents itself.”

Be sure to follow this young talent’s progress through the 2023 season right here on ProTouch Africa.

Callum Ormiston at 2023 Tour de Taiwan Photo: Global 6 Cycling