Papo springs surprise at MTB champs

Xavier Papo dethroned Costa Seibeb as the Nedbank National MTB XCO champion after coming first in the elite men’s race on Sunday.
Papo finished the five laps of the competition in a time of 1 hour, 20 minutes and 49 seconds, almost four minutes faster than Seibeb, who recorded a time of 1:24:10.
Andreas Ewald was third with a time of 1:34:29.
The only other rider in the elite men’s category, Tim Wucher, completed only four laps of the race.
Michelle Vorster, who will be representing Namibia at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, successfully defended her title in the elite women’s race, which took place over four laps.
She recorded a time of 1:16:00 to beat Irene Steyn and Carmen Bassingthwaighte. Steyn came second in a time of 1:22:06 while Bassingthwaighte recorded 1:23:07.
Other winners on the day included Tristan de Lange, who claimed top spot in the Under-23 category with a time of 1:24:33, and Herbert Peters, who won the men’s junior race in a time of 1:09:14 over four laps.
Steffanie Grossmann won the women’s junior race in a time of 1:06:21 over three laps.
The sub-veteran race was won by Heinrich Kohne, who won in 1:12:27, with Phillip Steyn second in a time of 1:16:12.
South African Genevieve Weber took honours in the sub-veteran women’s category with a time of 1:00:05, with Namibia’s Hester Prins finishing second in 1:08:42.
Piet Swiegers was first in the veteran men’s category by finishing the required four laps in 1:10:50.
Susanne Borg won the veteran women’s race in 1:08:01 over three laps.
The masters men’s race was won by Stefan Bohlke while the women’s segment was won by Mandy Huysamen.
Switzerland’s Roland Graf added spice to the competition as he took part in the men’s grand master category; the only cyclist to do so.
The Under-16 boys’ winner was Alex Miller while Justin Vosloo from South Africa won the boys’ U-14 race.
Monique du Plessis was first in the girls’ U-14 race.
Kevin Lowe claimed victory in the boys’ U-12 race while Fiona Vorster was first in the girls’ U-12 race.
Roger Suren won the boys’ U-10 while Adrielle Baumgarten claimed top spot in the U-10 girls’ race.
Sean Lowe and Talaya Vorster were first in the U-8 boys’ and girls’ categories respectively.

HECTOR MAWONGA