16 Jun 2013

The Gaborone Cycling Club (GCC) rider, Rudolph De Wet (29) capped up a brilliant 2 hours 20 minutes in the intriguing 90km Kopong Cobra Cycling challenge over the weekend.

The physically demanding and second longest road bike challenge in the local cycling calendar took riders from the scenic Kopong Bridge towards the Molepolole/Gaborone junction and once again inch past the village of Kopong before heading towards Lentsweletau.

The trio of De Wet, Sean McCormick and John Bennett were a strong collective from the first 20km but De Wet emerged the overall winner with the duo breathing heavily on his neck. The final lap saw several offensives from last year’s winner Angus Boxshall-Smith and GCC’s promising rider Jabu Tabulane, among others.

“The start was fine, we had a decent race and a memorable climb over the two hills with at least 15 riders packed together. It was a collective effort. Richard Coughlan gave me the lead and as we headed towards the last 100 metres I just kept my head down and went for a full sprint,” said De Wet.

Other impressive performances were recorded by the Botswana Railways pair of Tlhalefang Moesi and Boipuso Masepe. The latter kept alive hopes with an impressive fast ascent but blew up what could have been his glorious moment when he failed to maintain his pace down slope.

The race was also demanding with a not so gentle early morning breeze waltzing against the more than 56 competitors.

Last years’ runners-up Chris Moloi could not make it to the top 10 because of a mechanical fault down the terrains with just 20 km begging. Former champion Neville Van Zyl who had a poor start to the season came on the fifth spot. ENDS