The Fairtree Imperial Cannondale Mountain Biking (MTB) team came out tops at the Woolworths Triathlon 2022 on Sunday (4 December), with two of their men’s teams taking first and second spots overall and their third team coming in at a respectable sixth place.
Pulling out all the stops, team Luyanda Tobigunya, Thembela Lukalo and Brent van Niekerk finished first in a time of 02:44:49 seco nds, while team Kusaselihle Ngidi, Ongeziwe Tyapa and Mathew Nesser came in second, in a time of 02:55:40 seconds – proving that they have what it takes to set the standard in the most rigorous triathlons and MTB races in the country.
The third team, comprising Unathi Msophi, Siya Thuthu and Ben Manning took sixth place this year. The teams credit their coach CP van Wyk for pushing them to the limits during training sessions in preparation for the challenge at Paul Cluver estate in Elgin.
Flying the flag for all women mountain bike riders in South Africa, the Fairtree Imperial Cannondale women’s team of Bestie Boyce and Ann Swanepoel really showed their mettle during this challenging offroad event at Paul Cluver estate on the De Rust Wine Estate in Elgin, completing the 27 km technical mountain bike race, 12 km trail run and 1 000 m open water swim in good time, with Maties swimmer Annie Thornton Dibb joining the team for this event.
Team manager Chris Norton is very proud of all of the athletes who participated this year. “I think these great results prove that, through hard work and dedication, our riders can reach their full potential,” he said.
“I am especially proud of our women’s team. For women, mountain biking can be both liberating and intimidating. It’s a very male-dominated sport, with women still only making up between 20 to 25% of the South African mountain bike market. While their barrier to entry is mainly as a result of family and career commitments, many women also say the financial investment bars them from participating in the sport. It is an important segment that is growing in the country and we are determined to do whatever we can to enable more women to pursue this sport.”
What makes the Fairtree Imperial Cannondale MTB team so special is that each individual has had to beat the odds of coming from a financially disadvantaged background, yet each has managed to enter the sport through sheer determination, mostly riding with the bare minimum in terms of equipment and kit.
Fairtree Group chairperson André Malan said: “It has been so inspiring to see how the team has grown in life and in sport since we started this initiative. We are grateful for the generosity of the local community who have given freely of their time, energy and resources to help create an environment in which the riders can flourish.
“In partnership with Imperial and Cannondale, we are proud to support this talented team through the Fairtree Foundation and our aim is to enable them to become the best versions of themselves and achieve their individual callings.”
The team is a positive example of how sport has the power to unite communities and change individual circumstances, and this is exactly what has been achieved through the joint effort of the anchor sponsors, along with many individuals from the surrounding communities. Not only have they ensured that each team member has proper housing, training, bike support and transport, talented team members have also even been afforded life-changing career opportunities as mountain bike trail guides.
The Fairtree Imperial Cannondale MTB team has 20 riders (18 men and two women) between the ages of 18 and 30. A second women’s team will be joining the group in mid-December. The team has a mountain biking coach (Van Wyk), a doctor (Pierre Viviers), a biokineticist (Luan Smit) and a gym instructor (Gemma Haywood).
