LIMPOPO – Despite battling tick bite fever for two weeks, young cyclist Aron van den Borre dominated the second provincial MTB Cross Country Olympic race over the weekend at Louis Trichardt High School.

Van den Borre, who was forced to miss a race in Cape Town due to illness, made a strong comeback by winning both the Cross Country Track (XCC) and the Cross Country Olympic (XCO) events.

The XCC, a fast-paced shorter race before the main event, featured a relatively flat course. In contrast, the XCO race presented a greater challenge, with 100m of climbing per lap. Van den Borre set a blistering pace from the start, completing his first lap in 02:48,30, securing a 23-second lead over his competitors. Competing in the sub-junior category, he completed four laps in 00:11:55 to take the victory.

His schoolmate from Kingfisher Private School, Musa Chauke, finished second in 00:12:35, followed by Janco Breytenbach in 00:12:46.

In the main XCO race, Van den Borre launched an aggressive attack in the first lap, completing it in 00:14:46, a lead his rivals could not close. He secured victory with a total time of 00:46:36, ahead of Chauke (00:49:40) and Breytenbach (51:30). Fellow Kingfisher cyclist Junior Monyela narrowly missed the podium, finishing fourth in 00:51:59.

The trio will compete in the next provincial race at Moorddrift in April.

Van den Borre is also preparing for the South African Championships at Thaba Trails in Johannesburg later in April.