Photo finishes at Emperors cycle race

NOLAN Hoffman continued with his good form on the road, raking in the Elite Emperors Palace Cycling Classic over 98km on April 23.

“The race of dreams” pulled a full field of over 8 000 cyclists on the Sunday while the MTB event saw some 2 000 take to the streets in Ekurhuleni. The MTB races were held over 25km and 50km on Saturday and on Sunday the Classic Challenge took place in the Elite 98km and 48km categories.

Hoffman did, however, not have it all his own way throughout the race – in the last 5km he went into sprint mode to shake off Ryan Harrris’s charge and the big peloton behind him, to win with a photo finish. Both riders came through the finish line in a time of 2:09:02.

The Elite women’s race, which was won by Kimberley le Court, also called for a photo finish with Samantha Sanders in second place and both clocking 2:33:36. These two riders were neck-and-neck at the 5km mark and well in front of the peloton.

One of the legends of South African cycling, Gary Beneke of Glenvista, crossed the finish line to win the Emperors Palace Classic 98km Men’s Vets 50+ race.

The results are:

First Nolan Hoffman 2:09:02, second Ryan Harrris 2:09:02, third Tyler Day 2:09:04, fourth Jandrich Kotze 2:09:05 and fifth Clinton Janneke 2:09:06.

Elite women

First Kimberley le Court 2:33:36, second Samantha Sanders 2:33:36, third Joanna van de Winkel 2:35:35, fourth Michelle Andrew 2:35:36 and fifth Sanet Coetzee 2:35:37.

48km men

First Andreas Trayofer 1:17:01, second Shibhana Sibanyoni 1:17:04, third Herman Meyer 1:17:10, fourth Neil Aspeling 1:17:44 and fifth De Klerk Jacobs 1:18:04

48km women

First Elizabeth Burger 1:18:14, second Carin Janssen 1:19:23, third Lisa Venter 1:23:34, fourth Liza Rohland 1:23:41 and fifth Simone Farber 1:24:42.

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