14 Aug 2022

Winner of Dimension Data Route73 Mountain Bike (MTB) challenge Thokozani Mahlangu says the race requires a robust strategy for one to stand a better chance of success.

In an interview on the sidelines of the annual Dimension Data Route73 race held in Rasesa on Saturday, Mahlangu, who is a South African professional cyclist, observed that a cyclist who won in most cases was not a strongest rider, but the one who was smart enough to strategise.

Mahlangu’s winning time was 03:14:45, followed by Mark Vanzyl with 03:14:50 and Gontse Lethokwe booking a respectable 03:19:51 in the third position.

In the women’s Elite category only two riders competed and Bakang Ebudilwe claimed position one with a time finish of 04:03:43 followed by Wame Ntwayakgosi with a finish of 05:21:52.

The race attracted over 100 MTB riders in three categories covering distances of 30, 50 and 73 kilometres.

The first two categories was for amateur cyclists and the longest for seasoned and professional athletes.

This year’s challenge was the fifth edition after a two-year lapse due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sharing his winning tips, Mahlangu acknowledged Lethokwe’s strength, but said the MTB national champion needed to be consistent in a ride and stay with the group.

“Lethokwe needs to be smart and not attack too early on a long ride like this one,” Mahlangu said.

Mahlangu, who was riding the Route73 for the first time, said he was cautioned by his team mates who previously did the challenge about its challenging tracks with loose rocks and rocky down hills.

“I was advised to save energy and fuel at the right times,” he said.

Mahlangu said Lethokwe was way ahead of him in the race, but they caught up with him at 50km and pushed hard on the last 20km for the win.

“The last kilometres are critical and dangerous because everyone is tired with less concentration and one could even lose track,” Mahlangu noted.

He said the key to feeding well during a race was to fuel every 15km and keep things simple with regard to food and drinks to help the body digest easier.

“Fuelling your body correctly during the race is important to conserve energy,” he said.

Vanzyl, a semi-professional local rider, who is a regular in South Africa MTB and other international events, said coaching would go a long way in improving the local cycling scene.

“Teaching our riders correct fuelling and feeding as well as how to pace themselves during the race will go a long way in improving results,” said Vanzyl.

He said riders should be able to differentiate between a cross country race, which is a short and punchy lap phase and a marathon race, where they have to conserve energy towards the end of the race.

In the Junior category, Kato Ramahobo, who did the 73km for the first time, displayed the skills he learnt from the World Cycling Centre in Cape Town to claim the junior category title.

The 15-year-old said the WCC training helped improve his fitness and prepared him for the local cycling scenes.

“It was a tough training, but it challenged me a lot and I believe I am at my best fitness at the moment,” said Ramahobo.

The organisers of the event, Cycle4Life Cycling Club, said the event went relatively well with no major injuries.

Geoffrey Phonchi, a Cycle4Life representative said they were always striving to make Route73 challenge more interesting to give local riders exposure to some of the challenges they may encounter when they ride outside the country.

“We are looking at introducing a few technical areas in the next event, which will replicate some of the new experiences for riders and maybe consider conducting workshops for our riders to help them do better as we got feedback from some international riders on local riders’ performance,” Phonchi said.

On plans to introduce a cross country track in the local cycling environment, Phonchi said having a cross country track was a dream that could enhance the local cycling scene.

However, he said it was a national call that would need partners and experienced international and technically knowledgeable people to help develop such tracks.

Onnayang Marumo, managing director of Dimension Data said as a sponsor they pride themselves in working with the communities to develop and support them.

Marumo said through Dimension Data Route73 challenge, they contributed to cycling sport in Botswana from a development perspective.

She applauded riders who competed in the challenge and urged them to train harder for next year’s challenge, as well as Cycle4Life Cycling Club for a well-planned event.

“We believe this partnership is for the long haul and hope to give everyone more time to prepare for next year’s event,” Marumo said committing to their partnership for the sixth edition of Route73 MTB challenge. Elite category winners bagged P8 000, position two received P5 000, whilst position three got P3 000.

Moreover, Dimension Data Cycle for Life awarded Ebudilwe and Vanzyl extra P2 500 each for being the first Motswana female and male respectively to reach the finishing line. As such, Ebudilwe and Vanzyl went home with P10 500 and P7 500 respectively. ENDS