21 Sep 2015

Gaborone Cycling Club’s sensational rider Thato Madimabe overcame the unforgiving Mokolodi terrain to come on pole position in the annual Pick n’ Pay Mokolodi Scorpion challenge on Sunday (September 20).

The 21-years-old promising youngster had high expectations going into the race after an impressive performance in last year’s edition where he came second to Jabu Tabolane who did not show up owing to work commitments.

With an impressive overall time of 2 hours 30 minutes and 38 seconds Madimabe was finally crowned the winner in a close contest that saw Victor Makgwelo arriving exactly a second late.

Cycling sensation Bernardo Ayuso suffered a major setback when his rear tyre got a puncture.  Ayuso together with Madimabe broke away from the entire group of riders exactly 20 kilometres from the first loop but a flat tyre gave Madimabe and Makgwelo an opportunity to move into a commanding lead. 

Ayuso gave chase again and was determined not to let the duo get too much of an advantage but he got the worst puncture and had to cruise on low gear to the finish point.

The cat and mouse chase between Madimabe and Makgwelo continued until the last few metres into the finish line where they arrived bumper to bumper. 

In an interview Madimabe heaped praises on his mentor Tabolane who gave him the confidence to take on slippery, fast and often technical downhills of the off road challenge. He was also impressed by the performance of his Scott mountain bike since changing from the Ice Spider Fly bike.

For his part the 34-years-old Makgwelo admitted to having faced one of the toughest challenges in his racing career. It was his fourth appearance in the scorpion challenge and had a long layoff without any competitive race before purchasing his new specialised stump jump bike.

In the 36km open challenge Shadrack Musariri came first in men’s category while Leanne Elliot scooped the women’s race. 

Ryan Vickers won the 20km senior male while Corlia Malan came in first for females.

In an interview, one of the race organisers Seamus O’Neil was impressed with the level of commitment that the locals have shown to the sport which was in the past considered too elite. 

He also praised the adventurous Mokolodi venue and the fantastic team of sponsors. The race was celebrating its 13 years of existence and was sponsored to the tune of P60 000. Ends