Tyronne White outpaced a trio of strong riders in a dramatic sprint finish to win the 60km Mid-Illovo MTB Challenge at the Gwahumbe Game Lodge and Spa yesterday.
The Ballitoville local beat Henry Liebenberg (second), Derrin Smith (third) and Stuart Marais (fourth).
“The strongest competition definitely came from them. They’re all extremely strong riders, capable of winning, which made getting on the top step mean that little bit more to me,” said White.
Tyronne White won the 60km Mid-Illovo MTB Challenge at the Gwahumbe Game Lodge and Spa yesterday. Photo: Johan Pretorius
He added that he could not have been happier with the result.
“I’d really hoped to make it onto the podium, and to come away with the win meant a lot to me against such a strong field.”
He added that due to KwaZulu-Natal having seen “massive” rainfall recently it could not have been easy for the organisers and farmers to prepare the route, but they did an “amazing job”.
“It’s unbelievable the effort they put in to make this an enjoyable race for all the riders.”
White, who won this year’s Kamberg Classic, Berg 100 and Wartburg MTB Classic, said the route had a good mix of tough climbs and flowing single-track, which suited him as it made the ride a lot of fun and allowed for recovery on the technical descents.
“The pace was fast from the start, with Stuart and Henry putting in hard efforts. At about 12km Stuart pushed hard up the King of the Mountains climb and my goal was just to hang on to him and Henry over the top, which I managed to do.
“A short while after the climb Derrin rode back to the group with a strong effort. The four of us were together for the rest of the route, which was full of some spectacular single-track and views.
“With 10km to go Henry put in some attacks but it didn’t split the group and I knew it would come down to a sprint.”
White said he thought they were all a bit nervous as the run in to the end was narrow and none of them knew exactly where the finish was, so it resulted in quite a long sprint.
“I managed to get into the final corner first, which allowed me to hang on till the line.”
He added that when racing against such strong competitors the toughest thing for him was to maintain self-belief and not give up.
