NIC White showed his enduring class in a testing two-man sprint, to take the victory in the first ever ultra-marathon at the Bestmed Walkerville MTB Classic, presented by ASG, in Gauteng, on Saturday, May 23.
The 80km race kicked off the mountain biking component of the new Bestmed National Cycling Series, putting ex-African road champion White at the top of the leaderboard.
He bested Alasdair Garnett to claim line honours at the Boswell Wilkie Circus grounds in Randvaal in 2:36:37, with Andrew Westaway finishing a distant third in 2:40:35.
Eritrean sprinter Tesfom Okubamariam of the MTN-Qhubeka feeder team heads the road standings after winning the series-opening Bestmed Capital Classic in Pretoria last weekend.
White, who rides in the colours of Team Europcar SA, said he was delighted with his performance after winning the Winter Fast One earlier this month. The 41-year-old now turns his attention to the veterans’ race at the national marathon championships at Van Gaalen in two weeks’ time.
Michelle Beetge was the definitive women’s ultra-marathon winner in a time of 3:10:52. She was followed home by Catherine Tasseron-Meyer in 3:13:01, with Victoria Myburgh rounding out the podium in 3:14:48.
The 35km race was won by Cobus van den Berg in 1:08:21, while the women’s title in the half-marathon went to Retha Harmse in 1:22:17.
Results:
Men 80km
1. Nicholas White (2:36:37), 2. Alasdair Garnett (2:36:37) and 3. Andrew Westaway (2:40:35).
Women 80km
1. Michelle Beetge (3:10:52), 2. Catherine Tasseron-Meyer (3:13:01) and 3. Victoria Myburgh (3:14:48).
Men 35km
1. Cobus van den Berg (1:08:21), 2. Tristan van Niekerk (1:10:23) and 3. James Sutton (1:15:32).
Women 35km
1. Retha Harmse (1:22:17), 2. Cassidy Sykes (1:22:54) and 3. Gretha Garnett (1:24:12).
