Phillimon Sebona was delighted to claim a hometown victory at the Tour de Farm in Middelburg at the weekend.
Sebona, who rides for PYGA Euro Steel, said the 80km race was one of his major goals of the season.
“I wanted to try winning the race in my home village in Middelburg, which was only about 10km from the race venue,” Sebona told In the Bunch.
PYGA Euro Steel’s Phillimon Sebona (pictured) was delighted to claim a hometown victory at the Tour de Farm at the weekend. Photo: Milan de Beer Photography
He said the race was fast, flowing and relatively flat, which did not necessarily suit him.
“It took place mainly on open roads, which I struggled a bit on as I’m quite a small guy so I can’t be as responsive as I’m supposed to be on the flats.
“I was able to contend by sneaking towards the front of the bunch before we hit the grassy jeep tracks, which suited me better.
“I was able to then observe the weaknesses of the others, while trying to conserve as much energy as I could.”
Having ridden through various farmlands and corn fields, Sebona added that those terrains were dense and muddy, which posed a challenge.
“If you chose the wrong lines on those sections you would waste a lot of time.”
The competition was stiff, with only a minute separating the top-10 finishers.
“There was a lot of road tactics and since I was part of a road team a few years ago I was able to co-operate with that kind of strategy.
“Gustav Basson was obviously the defending champion and he was driving the pace most of the time.
“I tried to be as consistent as I could, because with my body weight I might [otherwise] not have made it.
“Luckily my teammate Pieter du Toit was also there and he rides the flats well and set a hard pace,” he said. Du Toit was the runner-up, a mere five seconds back.
Sebona added that the victory was “one of my dreams come true”. It came at a good time as he now heads into the off-season, during which he aims to put in base training to prepare for next season.
