NAD Pro’s Wessel Botha was relieved finally to break his duck in the Trailseeker Series when he clinched victory in the Lionman event in Mabalingwe, Limpopo, today.
Botha won the 70km race in thrilling fashion, coming out on top in a sprint finish between him, Shaun-Nick Bester and Philip Buys.
Bester finished five seconds behind Botha, with Buys a further 14 seconds adrift.
NAD Pro’s Wessel Botha was relieved finally to break his duck in the Trailseeker Series when he clinched victory in the Lionman event today. Photo: Nissan Trailseeker Lionman
With teammates Nico Bell and Matt Beers having raced in the UCI World Marathon Championships in Italy today, Botha knew he and his other teammate Gawie Combrink had to step up to the plate.
“The win was quite special, especially as it was my first Trailseeker win. It was great to win instead of just finishing on the podium [as I do] most of the time,” Botha told In the Bunch today.
“Gawie and I managed to fill the role [for his team in the absence of Beers and Bell] and I’m super happy; it was a good day out.”
Botha said the route started out particularly flat and that the racing only began when they approached the climbs.
“Philip and I managed to get a small gap on the other riders on the first climb,” he said.
“They eventually came back and then, on the second climb, we upped our pace again and we got a decent gap there.
“Unfortunately I got a puncture on the technical descent, which is when I had to stop and bomb my tyre up.”
At that point three other riders passed him, Botha recalled. He then had to chase them down on his own over the last 20km.
Bester and Buys were leading the race in the closing stages, before Botha caught up with them with just 2km to go.
“I then just sat on their wheels for about 300m before I attacked with a kilometre to go. I managed to create a small gap and was able to hold onto that until the finish.”
Botha said he feared his victory hopes had been dashed following his puncture, as Bester and Buys worked together at the front to keep him at bay.
“I thought my chances of winning had faded away,” he said. “But I figured there was still 25km left, so I just put my head down and powered on.
“I think Philip started cramping a bit towards the end and I think Shaun-Nick was also beginning to tire after the work they put in together.
“I then just stayed with them for a bit before I attacked. Fortunately, they weren’t able to cover it.”
Botha added that today’s race was “probably harder than all the other Trailseeker events” as the route posed various challenges which indirectly led to his puncture.
He and the team, with the return of Bell and Beers, will next focus on the 3 Towers from September 28 to 30.
