Mamohlakola Letuka
LESOTHO’S top cyclist, Phethetso Monese and his South African partner, Stuart Marais, finished runners up in the seventh edition of the recent annual Lesotho Sky mountain bike race.
The duo rode under the banner of telecommunications giants, Vodacom Lesotho, in the five-stage race in Semonkong, Ramabanta, Roma and Malealea.
Mathias Fluckiger and Ralph Naf of Radon Factory Xc-Orthpadie St Gallen, Switzerland emerged the winners.
Stage three of the race which was supposed to be the Roma Hoop had to be cancelled due to bad weather, leaving only five stages.
Monese told the Lesotho Times that they were happy with their performance despite the tough competition.
“The competition was tough but we performed well especially timewise,” said Monese who also rides for the African Dream Team.
The competition was well-attended with 82 out of the 85 expected participants showing up.
They were drawn from seven countries namely, South-Africa, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, Kenya, Austria and the hosts, Lesotho.
Sky Events Manager, Kananelo Masia, lauded Monese’s performance.
“The performance was satisfactory because he ranged from second position to fourth position throughout the event and hopefully next year they will win,” Masia said.
Besides the professional race, the organisers also lined up a 5.5 kilometre hike from Semonkong Lodge to Maletsunyane Falls which was open to everyone.
Blackmix Lesotho chief executive officer Manisha Black said the public day was meant for sponsors and fans of the race.
