Local woman wins Satellite Classic title in Harties
One of Pretoria's most experienced professional cyclists raced across the finish line first in the women section of the prestigious Bestmed Satellite Classic at the weekend.
Pretoria’s Lise Olivier won the women’s title in the Bestmed Satellite Classic 106km road cycling race during the weekend.
RoadCover professional Willie Smit took the men’s title when he broke away on the Hekpoort climb to solo to an impressive victory in this race at Saloon Route 66 near Hartbeespoort Dam.
The 23-year-old Smit from Nelspruit has not competed in the event since 2013 and was delighted with his performance, which follows his triumph in the three-day Bestmed Jock Tour in July.
Smit crossed the finish line 2:25:19, nearly 40 seconds ahead of Telkom’s Nolan Hoffman, who edged out reigning Cape Town Cycle Tour champion and Smit’s team-mate Clint Hendricks in the bunch sprint.
As Smit predicted ahead of the race, the climb up Hekpoort about 30km from the finish proved decisive.
Photo: Jetline Action Photo
“The race was very fast until Hekpoort when my team set me up for the win, for which I’m so grateful,” said Smit.
Smit, who has set himself the target of winning the individual time-trial at next year’s national champs, said he was very happy with his form ahead of next month’s 947. He said that the Satellite Classic victory was an important scalp for any professional.
Lise Olivier, of Time Freight, took the honours in the women’s race when she outdragged Ethiopian Eden Hailemariam to the line in 3:02:55.
Hailemariam was credited with a time of 3:02:56, with Bestmed-ASG’s Andrea Steyn completing the podium in the same time.
The 33-year-old Olivier, who hails from Menlo Park in Pretoria, was delighted with the outcome. Like Smit, she also went clear over Hekpoort and built an advantage of 45 seconds before being reeled in with 15km to go.
“I was really thrilled to get the win. There were several attacks before I was able to open a gap up Hekpoort. But this eventually closed and in the end it came down to a sprint finish in a group of about seven” she said.
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