Louis Trichardt was splashed with colour when more than a thousand cyclists from all across South Africa assembled in town over the weekend to take part in the annual Kremetart Cycle race.

The star attraction of the event, the 175km stage race, once again lived up to its reputation as one of the best races in Southern Africa.

It was an early and crisp start for participants in the main race, with the first of the four stages finishing at Waterpoort (53km), the second at Vivo (48km), the third at Schoemansdal (52km) and the final stage back in Louis Trichardt (22km).

This year the Bonitas Cycling Team dominated the men’s race while the ladies from the Nashua Toyota Team took top honours in their category.

The competition between the ladies in the 175km race caused a lot of excitement. In the end it was Anriette Schoeman, an eight-time South African champion and former Olympian, who won the overall title. Last year she had to settle for second place when she only managed to win the third stage.

The 34-year-old Schoeman turned the tables this year with an average speed of 33.85 km/h. She secured an early lead when she crossed the finish line at Waterpoort at the end of the first stage. From then on, Schoeman and fellow team riders Joanna van der Winkel and Robyn de Groot, defended this early lead to give the team a podium clean sweep.

De Groot and Van de Winkel both managed to win a stage each with Schoeman clinching victory in stage 4. Schoeman finished with a combined time of 5:10:14. Her time over the four stages was a mere three seconds faster than that of runner-up De Groot, who finished the race in a time of 5:10:17. Taking third place in a time of 5:10:18 was Van de Winkel.

In the men’s race, the Bonitas Cycling Team almost made a clean sweep, with three of their riders winning stages. In the end it was Tyler Day who finished as the overall winner with a combined time of 4:20:40.

Team mate Hanco Kachelhoffer finished a second later and took second place. Nolan Hoffmann from the Exell Racing Team secured a third overall place in a time of 4:20:42 after he managed to snatch a stage win at Vivo.

This year the 70km race drew lots of local entries. Here the overall winner was the 16-year-old Morné Van Niekerk from Mr Price, finishing the race in a time of 2:04:58. Second place went to Heinro Malan from the Cyclelab Supercycling team in a time of 2:05:01. Local cyclist, Stoffel du Toit took the third position in 2:06:19.

As for the women’s category, Anchen Naudé (39) from the Pretoria Speke Cycling Club finished the race in a time of 2:14:00. Naude pedalled hard and for the greatest part of the race managed to keep up with the leading men, finishing almost 11 minutes before her nearest competitor, Ansie Litkie from Randburg Harriers, who finished in 2:24:43. Third place went to Elize Breytenbach also from Speke in a time of 2:25:15.

Those interested can find the complete racing results on www.championchip.co.za.