Young gun Pritzen powers to victory in Ride for Sight
The event, now in its 31st year, has raised over R10-million towards finding treatments for inherited retinal blindness.
Mark Pritzen is the 2019 Dis-Chem Ride for Sight winner.
The 19-year-old dashed to the finishing strip in a time of 2:28:17 to comfortably win the 116km distance at the Boksburg City Stadium on February 17.
Pritzen, fresh from his u-23 SA Road Champs victory, was so far ahead he even had time to ease off and celebrate around 10m from the finish.
Ryan Harris settled for the silver and 2017 champion Calvin Beneke completed the medals podium.
Michelle Benson was the first lady to cross the finishing strip, followed by Linda Fouche and Desray Foyn, respectively.
Almost 5 000 cyclists participated over the two distances of 62km and 116km. The main race is a seeding event for the Cape Town Cycle Tour and remains a popular event due to the excellent organisation and support of both the naming sponsor, Dis-Chem Pharmacies, and the host city of Ekurhuleni.
The race is organised by Retina South Africa (RSA) and representatives of community groups.
The thrilled teenager commented: “This is an excellent race, well organised and very safe. The marshalling, the referees and the traffic control was all excellent.
“This is a huge win for me and a big step in my cycling career.”
Stan Goetsch, marketing director of Dis-Chem Pharmacies, said: “This is one of the top road races in Gauteng and is fantastically organised. It is a great cause and Dis-
Chem is proud to be involved and to support Retina South Africa with their dream of restoring sight to the blind.”
Claudette Medefindt, director of science at RSA, said: “We thank Dis-Chem Pharmacies, Ekurhuleni, secondary sponsors, our volunteers, supporters and especially the cyclists, without whom this event would not have happened.”
Team Protouch rider Reynard Butler won last year’s race in 2:39:54.
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