Wheelers excel at Emperors race
Raymond van Deventer was the first Springs Wheeler home at the ninth annual Emperors Palace Road Classic MTB 98km race held on Sunday.
He finished the race in two hours and 31 minutes.
Not far behind him was Kevin Lawrence in 2.37, Ian Gould in 2:49, Andre Nel 3.09 and Wikus Bothma 3.25.
The first female Wheeler to cross the finish line was Tammy Whitby who finished in 3.25 and Adele Lawrence came in shortly after Tammy with a time of 3.26.
The road race route has undergone a significant overhaul to cut out the busy sections along Rondebult Road, Boksburg, on the way back to Emperors Palace for both road race distances.
Bradley Potgieter (26) from Team Road Cover, was the overall winner of the race.
Potgieter, who stepped into the role after the team’s first-choice sprinter and Cape Town Cycle Tour champion, Clint Hendricks, fell ill in the build-up to the race, out-sprinted Team Telkom’s Reynard Butler and Nolan Hoffman in the dash to the finish.
Bradley paid tribute to a superb team effort from Hendricks, Kent Main, Stuart Fitzpatrick and Gustav Basson, who nursed him home in 2.07:50.
“I have put a lot of hard work into my sprinting after returning from a stint in Europe last year,” says Potgieter.
The first overall female to finish was Anriëtte Schoeman.
