Leemisa Thuseho
CYCLIST, Eric Ramohanoe, opened his 2022 cycling season in style finishing third in the 2022 Trail Fest MTB Stage Race in Bloemfontein last weekend.
This was Ramohanoe’s first race this year. His last race was the National MTB Championship in December where he also finished third behind champion, Tumelo Makae, and first runner-up, Phetetso Monese.
The weekend race saw the rider coming 29th in the first stage on Saturday after encountering bicycle problems.
He bounced back in the second stage and came second before coming second in the last stage on Sunday. He therefore came third in the overall standings.
Ramohanoe told the Lesotho Times this week that he was happy to start the season on a high note.
“I am happy although my target was to finish first,” Ramohanoe said.
“It was a fast race and 97 percent of its track was flat, so the pace was fast. However, I am happy with my performance and had it not been for the bicycle issues, I could have won.”
Ramohanoe is part of the team that will represent Lesotho at South Africa’s 2022 MTB Cup from 25 to 27 February in Free State.
The other members of the team are Monese, Makae and Lichaba West.
“The weekend race was just a warm-up; the main focus is on the South African race which is just a few weeks away.”
For international competitions, his main target is the African MTB Championships in April in Namibia as well as the Commonwealth Games set for July in Birmingham, England.
Ramohanoe is one of the Lesotho National Olympic (LNOC) High-Performance programme beneficiaries.
