Seven riders of Fairtree DP World Cannondale were in the saddle for the Ford Trailseeker mountain-biking event in Wellington on Saturday (7 September).
Luyanda Tobigunya, Damon Terblanche, Ethan Michaels, Kusaselihle Ngidi, Ziandro Jordaan, Atlahang Motsokotsi and Thembele Lukalo flew the flag of the Stellenbosch-based team in the tough race, which meanders through the beautiful Boland town.
“The course has some incredible flowing single-track, which our riders really enjoy and know well,” said team manager Chris Norton. “A fantastic ride by Luyanda and Damon, in a packed pro field, saw them finish just outside the top 20. This bodes extremely well for races coming up, such as the Wines2Whales, and we can see our riders really building endurance and fitness at the right time.”
He added that having five riders finish in the top 40 of the race exceeded their expectations, with Tobigunya finishing in 28th place (2:46:12), Terblanche in 29th (2:47:02), Michaels in 34th (2:48:39), Ngidi in 35th (2:50:01), and Ziandro Jordaan in 40th (2:54:29).
The previous weekend (Saturday 31 August), seven MTB riders of the team were also in action in the RaceToTheSea event, which saw participants tackle the 157 km route, which included 2 391 m of climbing. “This is an extremely gruelling endurance race that starts in Franschhoek and ends in Hermanus. Our men’s riders participated in the 100 miler and our woman rider completed the 50 miler,” said Norton.
This time, the Stellenbosch team comprised Tobigunya, Ngidi, Motsokotsi, Michaels, Terblanche, Jordaan and Yomelela Mfazwe.
The team’s top three men’s riders were Tobigunya (5:49:42), Motsokotsi (6:01:00) and Michaels (5:38:21). Mfazwe, the only woman rider, placed 87th overall and fifth in her category with a time of 06:55:13.
“All riders showed a massive improvement from our 2023 results and having Ethan Michaels (18) in the top 50 is an amazing performance,” Norton added. “Most of the top riders use gravel bikes and to have such great times on mountain bikes is further testament to the riders’ endurance abilities.”
