12 Feb 2024

The 20-year-old exciting road cyclist, Gomolemo Kelaotswe was crowned overall winner of the Tsela Riders season opening road race in Fikeng on Sunday.

Despite the poor attendance due to inclement weather, a few riders who turned up for the race gave a spirited performance for the first race of the four scheduled for this calendar year.

Kelaotswe strode to an easy victory on a cloudy Sunday morning putting in an acceleration that was unmatched and established a resounding gap that was not closed until the final lap. The former Jonmol club’s exciting youngster crossed the line in 3:15:58 for the main 106km race.

Kelaotswe continued his rich vein of form as he had previously remained victorious in the recent Palapye, Jwaneng and Maun races.

In the junior category, another impressive road biker, Ontlametse Maswabi launched his sprint as early as the first 30 minutes and seized control until the last hurdle coming in 2:21:07.

The energised 16-year-old Maswabi was impressive in the hilly sections of the route and ascertained his lead way before his closest opponent Letlole Sebonego arrived in 3:01:01.

Maswabi also did well in the King Cobra race and the Khoemacau race.

In the ladies category, Nonofo Maswabi came in first after 2:32:42 while Witty Matlhaope got the second spot 15 minutes later. Speaking on the sidelines of the race, Tsela Riders club chairperson Charles

Vaughn said they planned to host four club races to keep their athletes in perfect shape for future races and encouraged those who were doing social racing to take a keen interest in the sport.

Vaughn said they had hoped to take part in the national road championships that were slated for this past weekend but were cancelled by the national cycling governing body due to reasons beyond control.

He said the club wanted to use the Otse-Kanye terrain, which was normally used for the national championships but opted for the Fikeng terrain to attract good numbers of cyclists.

Vaughn said they were planning to send some of their riders to the upcoming Senkgamorodi race in Bobonong. ENDS