JP van Tonder successfully defended his time-trial title in the men’s 35-39 category on the fourth day of the 2015 Pennypinchers South African Road, Time Trial and Para-cycling Championships in Mbombela, Mpumalanga.
As the time-trial national champion, van Tonder went off last and kept his pace up with the rider in front of him to secure his victory.
“I knew that I was gaining an advantage when I got to the end of the first lap and I had a slight gap. Halfway through my second lap I knew where the competition was and so it was just a case of maintaining my momentum and getting to the end.”
The veteran ladies 30-34 age category saw Engela Conradie claiming her second time-trial national championship by narrowly defeating Adele Delport.
“I am really happy with my win even though I wasn’t feeling great today,” she said. “I can’t pinpoint what the matter was but the legs just didn’t quite feel there and they weren’t as good as I wanted them to be.
“Having a national title to defend was something that motivated me throughout so I knew that I just had to deal with the problem and give it my all which I did and I am really happy with the result.”
The Veteran Men’s 65-69 race ended in a three-way sprint for the line with Paul Pelser eventually winning the race by a second from Corne Taljaard.
The Veteran Women’s 50-54 race was equally as exciting when Amanda Akom managed to win a tight end sprint ahead of Elizabeth Janse van Rensberg to claim the national road race title.
