Marc cycles way to victory in SA

NAMIBIAN professional mountain-bike rider Marc Bassingthwaighte won the South African MTN National Mountain Bike cross-country series after recently winning the fifth and final leg at Foutains Reserve in Pretoria.

Riding for the Garmin Adidas team, Bassingthwaighte got off to a good start amongst the leaders on the technical seven-lap course and by the third lap moved into second place behind Roan Exelby of Team Fullimput Morewood. They gradually extended their lead over the rest of the field and by lap six Bassingthwaighte overtook Exelby with a strong surge. He increased the tempo to run out a comfortable winner in 1:59:20, finishing more than a minute ahead of Exelby. Bassingthwaighte’s Garmin Adidas team mate Philip Buys came third in 2:00:34. Bassingthwaighte said he prepared well for the race since four riders were still in with a chance of winning the overall title.’I prepared well for this mentally, as Pretoria isn’t my all-time favourite track, but nonetheless fun with lots of 90-degree single tracks. This meant I needed a good start so as not to be caught behind a slower rider while the front guys open a gap. ‘I managed this perfectly with only team mate Philip ahead of me in the first single track, which is a really good wheel to follow as he is pretty fast at the start,’ he said.Buys dropped back by the second lap as Exelby took the lead with Bassingthwaighte content to follow in second place. ‘I decided to hang back till the right moment. I was riding comfortably while we were stretching the gap on the rest of the riders. On the second lap I was stung by a wasp – it was uncomfortable for a lap but then the pain dissipated quickly,’ he said.Bassingthwaighte made his break on the sixth lap when he surged past Exelby to take the lead. Namibia’s Heletje van Staden won the Women’s U/23 category when she completed the five-lap course in 1:51:14, finishing more than a minute ahead of Janneke Leask.Van Staden finished third overall in the women’s category, with senior rider Yolande Speedy coming first in 1:37:01, and Sara Muhl second in 1:45:35. – www.namibiasport.com.na