This year at the Alzu Tour de Farm Mountain Bike race there was just some extra excitement in the air as the cyclists all made sure that they finished in time for the Rugby World Cup final.
The race was held at Alzu Petrol Port on Saturday, November 2 where cyclists from all over flocked to the venue for the race.
There was lots of excitement in the air as the cyclists were keen to get the race started and besides that they were excited to watch the rugby on a big screen.
So the first adjustment to the race was when the 80km race was shortened to 64km, so that the longer distance cyclists would be finish in time for the rugby.
Each cyclist was given a small South African flag so that they could ride with that attached to their bicycles or helmets in spirit of the world cup.
So at 07:30 the first batch of 64km cyclists was off and so the rest of the distances and batches followed.
The leading group of cyclists in the 64km were in a hurry to finish as they were averaging 33.3km.
In the leading bunch were some of the top cyclists setting a fast pace as they flew through the gravel roads.
Brand du Plessis finished in first place in a time of 1:55:12 with an average speed of 33.3km/h, in second place was Shaun-Nick Bester in a time of 1:55:20 and in third place from eMalahleni was Andre Potgieter in a time of 1:56:07 with an average of 33.1km/h.
In the woman’s race Lizle Rosunstein finished in first place with a time of 2:15:25, second place went to Thiesa Janse van Rensburg and in third place was Estelle Gous.
Brand and Lizle both won R20 000 in prize money.
In the 35km, it was still a tough race and many cyclists said the wind made the race tough.
In first place in the 35km was Johan Abraham du Plessis in a time of 1:12:18, second place went to Bertie Anderson and in third place was Pressmore Mu Dhlamini.
In the woman’s race Bernice van Wyk finished in first place in a time of 1:33:42, second place went to Lenka Labuschagne and in third place was Wilmarie du Plessis.
All the cyclists enjoyed this year’s Tour de Farm race and there were already talks about when is the next race.
