After a hiatus of six years, former junior national champion Luke John Roberts once more appeared at the pointy end of a mountain bike race when he brushed aside his opposition at the Jackal Dash in Johannesburg today.
“It was nice to put a result on the board,” said Roberts, who grew up in Durban but now lives in Dunkeld.
“I put a lot of pressure on myself which I’m trying not to do. I just want to enjoy riding my bike and hang out with the boys.”
The former RECM professional, who won the junior title twice before calling it quits in 2014, said he worked a full day yesterday and slept poorly on top of that and wasn’t feeling particularly good going into the race.
A former pro on the road, JC Nel, pushed the pace during the early kilometres. However, Roberts decided to force a move in the hope to get a select group off the front that would be able to work together.
“Barend [Burger] and Timo [Cooper] came with me, so it was the three of us in the front. Timo and I managed to get a little bit of a gap on Barend at about 30km in.”
At some point, after cresting a hill, Roberts said he thought Cooper was soft-pedaling, but on closer inspection it looked like the latter had punctured. Roberts surged ahead again, but Burger was able to ride up to him.
The twosome rode together for about five kilometres until they hit a steep dirt road climb where he put the pressure on and slowly distanced Burger.
“After that I just put my head down and rode the last 20km alone, trying to ride as smoothly as I could through the single-track.
“I just sort of enjoyed my day on the bike, which is predominately what I’m here for,” admitted Roberts, who is supported by Bike Market.
Cooper recovered to finish second, six minutes off the pace. David Cooke completed the podium with Nel eventually placing fourth and Burger fading to eighth.
