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Teammates Andani Raphalalani (left) and Ruben van Tonder (right) at the Magoeba Trek Mountian Bike 40m Stage Race. Photo supplied.

Andani and Ruben takes third place

 

This past weekend, one of Louis Trichardt’s most promising young mountain bikers, Andani Raphalalani (16) of Ridgeway College, took on a serious challenge in Tzaneen.

The challenge was the Magoeba Trek Mountain Bike 40km Stage Race from 17 to 19 September, with cyclists having to complete some 40km of intense mountain biking every day with a daily elevation gain of more than 1 000m.

Before Andani and his teammate, 16-year-old Ruben van Tonder from Mokopane, took on the cold, tough terrain and other challenging teams, they had to do some serious preparation. The two had to prepare to handle the climbing, distance and fast pace of racing to finish the race strongly over the period of three days.

On the first day, Andani and Ruben finished third overall, with a sizeable gap between them and the fourth-place finishers. On day two, the duo crossed the line in fifth place, with only a few minutes between them and the fourth-place finishers, which meant they still had a chance at a great overall finish and performance. On day three, the pair gave it their all and managed to scoop a third place again. This placed them third overall in the general classification, securing them an overall third place over the three days for this difficult and challenging race.

The event was hosted by Insect Science, one of South Africa’s leading sponsors of mountain biking, including youth cycling. The race featured amazing trails, stunning views and an overall great atmosphere. “It was definitely something to remember and definitely something that we will be doing next year,” said Andani.

 

Sport - Date: 24 September 2021

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Karla van Zyl

Karla van Zyl joined the newspaper team in February 2021 as a junior intern.

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