Cape Town - It was almost gold for Cape Town cyclist Abdelbasset Hannachi, who on Thursday took silver at the UCI B World Track Championship when he was narrowly beaten into second place by Indonesia's Samai Samai in the 1000 metre time trial.
Hannachi, an Algerian national currently resident in South Africa and a member of the CSC/Marcello pro cycling team, missed gold by less than one second.
Third place went to South Africa's Gadi Chait, who won gold in the Keiren event on Tuesday.
Hannachi's team manager, Chris Willemse Snr, said Hannachi showed the world why he is the current Algerian under 23 road and time trial champion.
"Over the past two days, CSC/Marcello riders have earned two medals in the championships, so I have good reason to be proud."
Willemse said the track achievements of Hannachi and Willemse Jnr once again proved why his team is considered one of South Africa's top cycling teams. "Our performances on both the track and the road are unmatched by other South African pro teams who tend to focus on one discipline, but seldom both." - Sapa