Darryl Impey (Mitchelton Scott) extended his winning streak at the South African National Time Trial Championships, winning for the ninth time on Friday.

The 35-year-old, who had been disappointed after missing out on his third consecutive Tour Down Under title, resumed racing as normal when he returned home for the time trial in Mpumalanga.

He clocked 41:52 over the 36-km course, 40 seconds ahead of NTT Pro Cycling's Stephane de Bodde, who finished second last year. Kent Main (Pro-Touch) took the last podium spot by over two minutes. [The race itself was pretty tough. Coming back from the Tour Down Under and Australia and doing a time trial four days later was pretty difficult, but we managed the course really well and did the best we could considering the jet lag," Impey said.

Impey has won the South African time trial title every time he has competed. He won his first title in 2011, did not compete in 2012 because Reinerd Janse van Rensburg won, and has now won the title eight times in his career.

"It's always nice to bring the jersey back to Europe, and being the ninth time, it's been a great run so far. It's nice to be able to represent my country under the South African flag for another year and I think that's important," Impey said.

Impey will also compete in Sunday's road race. He will be looking to do the time trial and road race double for the third year in a row, having won that title twice in 2018 and 2019.

"Sunday is the goal now and I will do everything I can to retain the jersey.