Mudslide at maiden cycle race

The first stage of the gruelling Vulintaba Mountain Bike series came to a thrilling close on Saturday.

Less than three minutes separated the first and second place cyclists in the tough 40-kilometre event, racking up average speeds in excess of 18km per hour across the rugged terrain.

In the end, however, it was Robert Scott who took pole position, in a time of 2:08:54.

Hot on his heels/pedals were Manie du Preez (2:11:46), Zauco van den Berg (2:16:02), Jody Mitchell (2:19:56) and Gerhard Engelbrecht, who rounded off the top five with a time of (2:34:56).

Finishing within a hair’s breadth of one another were Everett Haywood (2:35:00) and PC de Heer (2:35:05).

Llewellyn Fourie, Sephton Wolmarans and Kevin Haycroft rounded off the top ten in the main cycle event, all completing the event within the two hours, 40 minutes threshold.

The victor of the 20km event was Thabani Shabalala, clocking an overall time of 49 minutes and nine seconds.

Thabani and second placed Ryan Ramgethy whizzed through the course at an average speed of a shade over 24km/h, with Ryan only six seconds off the winning time.

In a time of 59:10, Theunis Kotze was placed third overall.

Next over the line were Cameron Gurr (59:53), Cameron Fraser (1:00:16), Marco van der Merwe (1:00:42), Hanro Marais (1:01:23) and Japie Kleinhans (1:01:47).

Cobus Hamilton (1:03:44) and Jacques Manthe (1:04:39) filled in last spots in the top ten.

Speaking at the conclusion of the first series event, organisers said they hope to ignite a renewed interest in mountain bike riding over the duration of the series, as well as a competitive spirit within cycling ranks.

The remaining races are scheduled for March 29, May 3 and June 1.