Gibbons demonstrates stamina and speed

Following his stage victory yesterday, Gibbons again demonstrated his undisputable talent in today’s criterium and time trial winning the former in 50:44 minutes and coming second in the latter in 22:19.

Meron Hagos of MTM Feeders remained hot on Gibbons heels in the criterium and finished second (50:44) while the surprise of the day came in the form of Eslam Zaki who piped top-contender Metkel Teweldeberhan of MTM Feeders for third place in the criterium with a finish time of 50:46.

The u/23 time trial was won by Nicholas Dougal in 22:08 while Teweldeberhan finished third in 22:59.

The junior boys’ continued to deliver gripping performances in both the criterium and time trial. Joshua Buchel of Karan Beef secured the best time in the criterium (35:49) followed by Karanoko Samba of WCC (35:49) and Neil Robinson of Karan Beef (35:50) respectively.

Stefan de Bod of Cycleworld was the fastest in the junior time trial clocking 23:20 followed by ASG’s Kent Main (23:34) and Gustav Basson (23:53).

The results of the other categories were as follows:

Elite ladies (Criterium)
1. An-Li Kachelhoffer – 35:52
2. Juanita Venter – 35:52
3. Heidi Dalton – 35:52

U/16 Boys (Criterium)
1. Damean Oosthuizen – 33:43
2. Demarco Pillay (Valencia) – 33:43
3. Gregory de Vink (Valencia) – 33:44

U/16 Girls (Criterium):
1. Catherine Colyn – 35:30
2. Tyneale Terry – 35:33
3. Lynette Benson – 37:05

Elite ladies (Time Trial)

1. Heidi Dalton –  26:43
2. An-Li Kachelhoffer – 28:30
3. Samantha Saunders – 30:33

u/16 Boys (Time Trial)
1. Enno Swanepoel (Europcar) – 25:17
2. Damean Oosthuizen (Cycleworld) – 25:48
3. Gregory de Vink (Valencia) – 25:54

u/16 Girls (Time Trial):
1. Tyneale Terry – 31:32

2. Catherine Colyn – 31:45
3. Lynette Benson – 33:38

Tomorrow’s fourth and final stage will undoubtedly be one of the Tour’s toughest, with riders climbing over a whopping 1 000 metres in the first 25km of the race. This grueling climb will take the riders from Nelspruit, to Kaapsehoop and then will see them descend to Ngodwana before heading back to Nelspruit. Although tomorrow’s route will be one to remember for its picturesque offerings, it will also be unforgettable for its level of difficulty.

Motorists are urged to be cautious and mindful of competing riders and are reminded that there will be Stop/Go’s in Ngodwana from 09:00 to 11:00 for race purposes.