14 Aug 2023

Gontse Lethokwe of Team Swift Cycling Club took top honours as he was crowned the first Motswana to win the Dimension Data Route 73 (DDR73) in Bokaa on Saturday.

The rider’s triumph was a big moment for the Botswana cycling community; a first since the inception of the one-day mountain bike marathon cycling challenge in 2016.

For years, the race has been dominated by South Africans with Batswana cyclists settling for either second or third places.

Lethokwe, who registered a time of 03:04:31:78 in a 73km distance, rose to the occasion to finish ahead of the pack, in a race he finished in position three in the last edition.

His runner-up, South African Halalisane Ndebele clocked 03:04:31:95 and his countryman and last year’s champion, Thokozani Mahlangu finished third with a time of 03:10:02.

The three riders led the bunch for most of the time during the race, exchanging places but not losing focus or lest they found themselves compromised not to break away.

At some point, Ndebele and Lethokwe went neck-to-neck going downhill from Gravel Express hill passing by Moks water spot.

Lethokwe made his intentions of winning clear, as he was content to ride aggressively as he could,

without interfering with his

strategy and plan.

“I came prepared this year and hungry for a win.

Last year I could not get it because there were few factors, which blocked my win.

This time I wanted to prove that it only takes training coupled with proper planning to win this,” Lethokwe said in a post race interview.

Lethokwe, who was using a carbon Cannondale bike, said he fuelled enough for the race and also used strategic feeding water stops.

He said using the carbon bike also enhanced his performance.

“This bike is a full carbon bike, tyres, frame, saddle and brakes with a power metre, which I could monitor during my ride.” Lethokwe said at times they lost to other cyclists because of little things such as the type of equipment they used.

He also said his target was to pull hard where he was strong and not put all effort in order to maintain energy.

 “I also capitalised on my strengths and weaknesses. I am strong on climbs and flats and I was able to also drop some of the South African riders whom I was leading the pack with.”

Meanwhile, Lebopo Kono scooped the Under23 73km title with 04:18:15 and became the first female Motswana to reach the finish line and making her overall winner in the female’s 73km distance.

“I am so overwhelmed because I really did not expect that. I have  just been doubting myself but now I believe I can do much better than what I did today,” Kono said.

She said the experience she gained at the MTB continental championships in June came handy in her preparations for the DDR73 race.

Meanwhile, Gobona Mantle won the females elite 73km distance. For his part, DDR73 race director, Mmuso Phonchi said he was happy with the new technology called the Racemap GPS tracker, which they used for the 73km distance.

“I cannot imagine a future DDR73 without this technology. It was a beautiful experience to all who managed to interact and use it throughout Botswana. We even had Botswana Cycling Association president saying he used the technology to watch the race in Glasgow. 

This piece of technology really ought to be a standard feature of this race going forward,” he said.

Other cyclists and club ladders also hailed the initiative saying it was a real game-changer to hosting a connected race and improving sport.

Dimension Data managing director Onnayang Marumo also said using technology was a journey they would follow saying he hoped the race grows better next year. Ends