26 Oct 2015

Bernardo Ayuso showed incredible sprinting power to win the 100km Morupule GM cycle challenge on Sunday (October 28). Ayuso made the break with 25km remaining leaving Sethomo Masepe and Lulu Telekelo, who were side by side with him, for dead.

A few kilometres from the finishing line, Ayuso accelerated even more to grab the crown in 2:48:17 and pocketed P3 000 and a cellular phone. Masepe  came second in  2:52:28.

“Despite the windy conditions the race was good,” Ayuso, a professional cyclist in Spain stated after the race.

He said it was his seventh local victory this year, and that he has only lost the Motloutswe Challenge to Telekelo.

The champion explained that he only had a chance to compete locally when the cycling  season was of in Spain where he cycles for bread and butter.

There were only two cyclists in the 100km female race, Anouk van der Geest came first in 3:00:47 while Bakang Ebudilwe recorded 3:33:39 in the category.

Miguel Barata and Abel Clearance came first in the 58km male and female race category respectively, while Dimpho Masi and Jip Vader are champions of the 58km  junior race.

In the 30km race, Thuso Lethare and Clare Botha emerged victorious in the male and female categories respectively.

Over 130 cyclists participated in the challenge. 

Morupule Coal Mine general manager, David Kgoboko said “it is not easy to be on top of the bicycle,” but it shows commitment towards community uplifting as the funds would be used to help the less privileged communities around Morupule mine.

Kgoboko also hailed the sponsors, saying it was not easy for them to sponsor the event, especially during a time when the economy was stressed.

In an interview with the mines human resource manager, Tom Mongale said they have raised more than P 400 000 from the race. 

Mongale said initially part of the funds were planned  to be used to build a classroom block at Sehunou Primary School, but that they still have  to identify different needs at the school because the government has decided to build the classroom block at the school.

He added that they have adopted the primary school. On the day, Joy Global Africa donated P100 000. Ends