Six members of the Fairtree Imperial Cannondale racing team participated in the Woolworths X Tri event at Paul Cluver Wines in Grabouw on Sunday 3 December.
The triathlon saw teams of three athletes tackle the scenic race routes on the picturesque estate, with three teams from Fairtree Imperial Cannondale entering. Each team member was designated a leg – either run, ride or swim.
While the Stellenbosch racing team provided the runners and riders, the swimmers came from the Maties Water Polo Club.
The team of Luyanda Tobigunya (rider), Thembela Lukalo (runner) and Cam Sugden (swimmer) finished at the top of the podium in a time of 2:13:46. The other team, comprising of Kusaselilhe Ngidi and Unathi Mspohi with swimmer Annie Thornton Dibb finished in fifth place overall with a time of 2:41:14, while the team of Thando Nthuthu and Siyabulela Tutu with swimmer Dev Laurensen finished 10th overall with a time of 2:51:12.
“Doing a triathlon in teams is a great way to build team work and also to do something different, with team members either running or biking,” said team manager Chris Norton.
“Our teams managed excellent times and the best team finished in 2:14:46, which shows how good their performance was on the day, shaving off 13 minutes from last year’s time! We are looking forward to taking part in events in 2024 and, with our swimming programme starting in full swing in January, we hope to have individual competitors next year. A huge thanks to DP World and Woolworths for making this event possible for our teams and to Maties Water Polo Club for availing their swimmers to take part along with our athletes.”
He further thanked the team’s anchor sponsors DP World, Fairtree Capital and Cannondale for their continued support throughout the year.
“The team has grown dramatically over a year due to this support and shows no signs of slowing down. We are extremely excited by the progress made by many of the riders and runners and look forward to some great results in 2024,” Norton concluded.
