1st gold medal for Linden cyclist

Kent Main has ridden his way to his maiden win at the Takealot East Rand Classic cycling road race in Kempton Park.

A 98km road race in the East Rand stood in the way of Linden resident Kent Main’s ambition to win his first competition. After 2:23:01 of cycling which featured a host of physical and mental challenges, Main was called to the podium as the winner of the Takealot East Rand Classic cycling road race. His performance was so amazing that the rider that came second, Rocco King, passed the finish line more than two minutes after him.

Main stated he was pleased with his performance, especially since he had a viral infection from his Tour de Langkawi cycling race in Malaysia. “Physically I’m feeling fine and that’s great because this was my first week back cycling after an illness.”

Main had to get back to the required fitness level to compete in this race and did exactly that. He stated that prior to the race, he was on the bike every day. “I have been riding every day just to get back into it, so I didn’t quite know how it would go. But this was the best I have felt all week and it’s really good to get a win under the belt, which is always a big positive for your confidence.”

The 23-year-old ProTouch rider got away from a breakaway group with about 15km to go in the 98km feature race and was able to hold on for a satisfying victory. “The main break of the day of about 11 riders came after about 20km, but there weren’t any real tactics going on, with almost a negative pace within the group.”

The breakaway group closed the gap on the pair, but Main then put in another surge. “At that stage I managed to get a small gap and as soon as I saw that, I put my head down and it was a solo effort to the finish.”

He said his final push was the hardest but that the win made the day a really good one.

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