Van Heerden romps to mountain bike title
Kempton Park local Lisa Venter notched up her second consecutive win in the women’s section
FORMER national road champion, Christoff van Heerden (30) showed his all-round racing ability when he claimed a surprise win in the Emperors Palace Mountain Bike Classic on Saturday.
Van Heerden, who won the circuit spectacular criterium at the same venue three years ago, blazed across the finish line to take the 40km mountain bike event in a time of 1:37:19.
The Kitchen Bar rider was followed home by Peter-Lee Jefferies of Inter-Active Technologies in 1:41:04, with Jacques Greeff third for Team Kempston Group in 1:44:57.
Bedfordview resident Van Heerden, who will soon relocate to Cape Town, said his victory could possibly herald the start of a crossover career in off-road racing.
“I rode the Cape Epic this year, which could be the start of a new journey.
“A bunch of guys have given me the opportunity to race again. It’s nice to have a team backing you; with good support you can do anything.”
In the women’s event, triathlete Susan Sloan took a convincing win in 1:54:52, while Jana Jonker claimed the runner-up spot in 2:01:36 with Susan Gerber a further 32 seconds back.
Sloan (34) said the race had served well as part of her preparations for the Xterra world championships later in the year, where she would be eyeing a top-10 result after finishing 18th last year.
The Benoni resident said she had been pleasantly surprised by the trails in the vicinity of OR Tambo International Airport.
“Everyone kept telling me I should ride the forest section by the airport and riding it today I realised I should come and do this more often.”
In the 20km men’s race, Heinrich Kanis (Epic Sports) of Centurion took his debut victory in 1:05:19, while Kempton Park local Lisa Venter notched up her second consecutive win in the women’s section in 1:16:54.
