Cherise Willeit (née Taylor, previously Stander; born 6 November 1989) is a South African professional road cyclist. She has won a single African and four South African championship titles, in both the road race and the time trial, and later represented her nation at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Willeit also raced for Belgium's professional cycling team in 2011 and 2012.
Professional career Born in Pretoria, Willeit qualified for the South African squad in the women's road race at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing by receiving one of the nation's two available berths from the UCI World Cup. She successfully completed a grueling race with a fifty-ninth-place effort, finishing in 3:48:33, surpassing Cuba's Yumari González by a wide, three-minute gap. That same year, Willeit earned the women's elite road race title in her first attempt at the South African National Road Race Championships.
Willeit's success in the South African Championships landed her a spot on the MTN team for the 2009 season, followed by her official stint on the in 2011. That year, Willeit flourished, winning two time trial events at both the South African Championships, and at the UCI African Continental Championships in Asmara, Eritrea.
Willeit also sought her bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, but the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) excluded her from the team. Moreover, Cycling South Africa decided to reject her appeal based on the board's scrutiny and decision in the due process and procedures for the national team's final selection.
Personal life Willeit married elite mountain biker and African under-23 champion Burry Stander in May 2012. Stander was killed during a collision with a taxi while training near his residence in Shelly Beach the following year. She later married Benjamin Willeit and became a mother to a son.
Major results
2006 2nd Road race, African Junior Road Championships 6th Road race, UCI Juniors World Championships 2007 UCI Juniors World Championships 2nd Road race 10th Time trial 2008 1st Road race, National Road Championships 7th Overall Tour of Chongming Island 1st Stage 4 2009 2nd Road race, African Road Championships 3rd Road race, National Road Championships 2010 1st Road race, National Road Championships 7th Overall Women's Tour of New Zealand 10th Road race, Commonwealth Games 2011 African Road Championships 1st Road race 2nd Time trial National Road Championships 1st Time trial 3rd Road race 10th Ronde van Gelderland 2012 1st Time trial, National Road Championships 1st Stage 2 La Route de France 2014 2nd Road race, National Road Championships 2015 KZN Autumn Series 1st PMB Road Classic 1st Hibiscus Cycle Classic 2nd Time trial, National Road Championships
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