Locals dominate podium in 70 km

Not only did Louis Trichardt play host to thousands of cyclists, but the town was also well represented on the podium of the 70km cycling challenge of this year’s Total Kremetart Road Race on 6 June.

Local cyclists held their ground, and many of them finished in the top three podium positions.

This year’s race saw the cyclists crossing the dreaded Otto’s Hoogte twice as the route went out to Kutama Village, southwest of town, and back.

The first overall winner of the race was Louis Marais in a time of 2:02:27.15. He was followed, milliseconds later by JP Venter in a time of 2:02:27.49 in second place. Ivan Pretorius was third in a time of 2:06:09.71. Well-known local cyclist Marco Roets, who had to bow out of a podium finish, took fourth place overall. He was third in his age category and also managed to win a third place in the Mountain Bike XCO Challenge the following day.

The first woman in the race was another local, Noenie Mattheus, in a time of 2:40:54.32. She was followed by Nicolene Schlimmer in second place in 2:44:21.33 and Lelanie Logtenberg in a time of 2:44:40.99, taking the third place.

Hetta Lombard (3:12:16.37) and Nicola Foord (3:24:59.94) both took top honours in their respective age categories for grand-master female and junior female.

Other categories where local cyclists featured were sub-veteran males (ages between 30 and 39) where Rick Coetzee finished second in a time of 3:12:16.37. Jan Lombard placed second in the category for grand-masters (ages between 60 and up) in a time of 2:54:40.72.

The 10km Fun Ride was won by another local cyclist, Anthony Archer, in a time of 1:21:28.80. He was followed by his friend, Rohan Cronje, in second place in a time of 1:22:09.17, with Antony Clayton in third in 1:22:52.26.

The first girl home was Anna Elisa Gutierrez in a time of 1:23:00.58, followed by Amelie Owens in second place (1:27:13.48) and Simoné Oberholzer in third (1:28:38.34).

Sport - Date: 19 June 2015

Isabel Venter

Isabel joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in 2009 as a reporter. She holds a BA Degree in Communication Sciences from the University of South Africa. Her beat is mainly crime and court reporting.

Email: [email protected]