Team South Africa’s Jean Spies reclaimed his Time Trial title at the African Continental Track Championships in Durban on Wednesday and surprised even himself when he grabbed the Scratch race win (for Got It Global) ahead of Team BCX’s Nolan Hoffman.
Spies (pictured winning the scratch event) also went on later to claim the Elite Men’s gold in the Sprint Final on Wednesday afternoon.
The afternoon session of day two of the African Continental Track Championships had spectators on the edge of their seats as thrilling competition events continued until dusk at the Cyril Geoghegan Cycle Stadium in Durban on Tuesday.
The morning and afternoon sessions on Wednesday were also nothing short of spectacular, and the South Africans were given a run for their money by many of the neighbouring countries on the track.
Jason Oosthuizen (SA) grabbed the winning points on offer in the Junior Men’s Omnium-Tempo event, with Ricardo Broxham (SA) and Hamza Mansouri from Algeria in third. Oosthuizen and Broxham also respectively dominated first and second in their Individual Pursuit Final, with Morocco’s Mohamed Medrazi in third.
The Omnium-Elimination event was won by Oosthuizen, with Mansouri in second and Algeria’s Oussama Cheblaoui in third.
The Elite Men’s 1km Time Trial was defended by Spies (SA) in a time of 1min 09.79sec. ‘It wasn’t my best, but quite a respectable time, considering the windy conditions that we had on the track, so I’m pretty happy with that. It was very cool to defend the title,’ he added.
Saudi Arabia’s Abdulaziz Alkhuwaytim and Got It Global’s Jared Poulton claimed the second and third respective positions. ‘To my knowledge, he’s (Alkhuwaytim) only been riding on the track for the last week and I’m just super impressed with his riding skills. He gave me a massive fright in the first round with a photo finish,’ Spies added.
Spies also claimed the gold in the Elite Men’s Scratch event. Team BCX’s Nolan Hoffman claimed the second spot and Team South Africa’s Evan Carstens took the third. When chatting about his Scratch race win, Spies said: ‘It was a really big win for me. I was so blessed to have taken that title. I’ve been chasing a Scratch race title since 2012/2013. Since then it’s been a fight to win it.
‘Obviously with Nolan being the outright favourite in Africa, it was really cool taking him on in the sprint and actually coming off with it.
‘Today (Wednesday) was just for fun,’ he said after claiming the Elite Men’s Sprint title as well. ‘I’m not a pure sprinter and I just came out to ride my bike. We didn’t have any races scheduled for today, but decided to race and enjoy it.’
The Elite Men’s Team Pursuit Final was won by Team South Africa, followed by Team Got It Global/Giant and Future Stars Cycling Academy.
In the Junior Women’s 7.5km Scratch race, SA’s Courtney Smith continued with her winning streak as she beat Ashleigh Parsons (also SA) to the post.
Egypt’s Ebtissam Zayed once again wowed the crowds when she claimed one more gold medal in honour of her fallen teammate and friend, Eslam Nasser Zaki, who died on Monday. She won the Elite Women’s Scratch race on Tuesday evening. South Africa’s Du Preez and Claudia Gnudi (Strasse Panda) rounded the podium off.
The Junior Men’s Omnium-Points race was won by Ricardo Broxham, followed by Rwanda’s Eric Jean Habimana and Algerian Mansouri.
On Wednesday morning, Future Stars Cycling Academy’s Smith continued with her excellent results as she beat Parsons in the Junior Women’s Omnium-Scratch race. The Junior Women’s Omnium-Tempo race was won by Smith, with Parsons in second place and the Omnium Points race was won by Parsons. Smith came in close behind, in second.
In the Elite Women’s Omnium South Africa’s Du Preez (above) took the top spot. ‘With the Omnium being a one-day event now, and only bunch races including the new Tempo race, I found the Tempo to be a very hard race. I never expected it to be so hard. It was definitely the hardest for me,’ she said.
Du Preez knew that she could bag points in the Points race. She said: ‘Because it was last on the list, your legs aren’t the freshest, so you have to be in front the whole time to really secure the win. In the last lap, the rider who gets that lap gets double points, which is very risky. The Omnium is hard – nothing is really easy. Every single race counts.’
In the Elite Men’s Madison, Team South Africa’s Hoffman and Steven Van Heerden took the top honours with Bernard Esterhuizen and Evan Carstens (Team South Africa) finishing in second place, and Got It Global’s Spies and Poulton in third. The Junior Men’s Madison was won by Ricardo Broxham and Keagan Bontekoning (Team South Africa), with Benedict Moqumo and Jayde Davies (VWE) in second place.
The Junior Men’s Team Pursuit Final was won by Team Morocco, with Team South Africa claiming the silver medal.
The Sprint Final was won by Seychelles’ Stephen Belle, and Team VWE’s Hammaad Akoogee claimed the second spot. ‘I didn’t know that I was going to do well – I just did it. This is my first time I’ve been on the track, I only do road races usually,’ said Belle. Belle has been working timeously with World Cycling Centre Africa (WCC) Director, Jean Pierre Van Zyl at the WCC training camp.
The Junior Women’s Sprint Final was won by Smith, and compatriot Jessica Brown claimed the second spot.
Bernette Beyers (South Africa) took the gold medal in the Elite Women’s Sprint Final with Jennifer Abbott (SA) claiming the silver and Nigeria’s Rita Aggo claiming the bronze.
Pictures of Spies and Du Preez courtesy of Andrew McFadden/BOOGS Photography
Provisional summary of results
Elite Men Time Trial 1km
1 Jean Spies (SA)
2 Abdulaziz Alkhuwaytim (KSA)
3 Jared Poulton (Got It Global)
Elite Men Scratch 15km
1 Jean Spies (Got It Global)
2 Nolan Hoffman (BCX)
3 Evan Carstens (SA)
Elite Men Team Sprint Final
1 Evan Carstens/Bernard Esterhuizen/Clint Hendricks (Giant)
2 Graeme Ockhuis/Wayde Theunissen/Rocco King (SA)
3 Christopher Gerry/Xerxes Larue/Mario Ernesta (SEY)
Elite Men Team Pursuit Final
1 Nolan Hoffman/Steven van Heerden/Jean Spies/Josh van Wyk (SA)
2 Jarred Poulton/Giuliano Giordani/Evan Carstens/ Clint Hendricks (Got It Global/Giant)
3 Peter Lee Jefferies/Kyle Walker/Sbonga Shange/Andrew Edwards (FSSA)
Elite Women’s Scratch 7.5km
1 Ebtissam Zayed (EGY)
2 Charlene Du Preez (SA)
3 Claudia Gnudi (Strasse Panda)
Elite Women Team Sprint Final
1 Bernette Beyers/Jennifer Abbott (SA)
2 Ebtissam Zayed/Donia Rashwand (EGY)
Junior Men Omnium-Tempo
1 Jason Oosthuizen (SA)
2 Ricardo Broxham (SA)
3 Hamza Mansouri (ALG)
Junior Men IP Final 3000m
1 Jason Oosthuizen (SA)
2 Ricardo Broxham (SA)
3 Mohamed Medrazi (MAR)
Junior Men Omnium-Elimination
1 Jason Oosthuizen (SA)
2 Hamza Mansouri (ALG)
3 Oussama Cheblaoui (ALG)
Junior Men Omnium-Points
1 Ricardo Broxham (Pro Touch)
2 Eric Jean Habimana (RWA)
3 Hamza Mansouri (ALG)
Junior Men Team Sprint Final
1 Hammaad Akoogee/Daniel Skews/Benedict Moqumo (VWE)
2 Tye Stainbank/Whayde Davids/Jayde Davies (SA)
Junior Women Team Sprint Final
1 Jessica Brown/Courtney Smith (SA)
Junior Women’s Scratch 7.5km
1 Courtney Smith (SA)
2 Ashleigh Parsons (SA)
Elite Men Madison
1 Nolan Hoffman/Steven Van Heerden (SA)
2 Bernard Esterhuizen/Evan Carstens (SA)
3 Jean Spies/Jarred Poulton (Got It Global)
Elite Men Sprint – Final
1 Jean Spies (Got It Global)
2 Wayde Theunissen (SA)
3 Jarred Poulton (Got It Global)
Elite Women Sprint – Final
1 Bernette Beyers (SA)
2 Jennifer Abbott (SA)
3 Rita Aggo (NGR)
Junior Men Madison 30km
1 Ricardo Broxham/Keagan Bontekoning (SA)
2 Benedict Moqumo and Jayde Davies (VWE)
Junior Men Sprint – Final
1 Stephen Belle (SEY)
2 Hammaad Akoogee (VWE)
3 Amza Mansouri (ALG)
Junior Men Team Pursuit Final 4000m
1 Mounir El Azhari /Mohamed Medrazi/ Yassine Berjali/ Hamza Essadouki (MAR)
2 Ricardo Broxham/Daniyal Matthews/Jayde Davies/Keagan Bontekoning (RSA/VWE)
3 Hammaad Akoojee/Stephen Belle/Daniel Skews/Benedict Moqumo (VWE/SEY)
Junior Women Omnium-Scratch
1 Courtney Smith (FSSA)
2 Ashleigh Parsons (SA)
Junior Women Omnium-Points race 15km
1 Ashleigh Parsons (SA)
2 Courtney Smith (SA)
Junior Women Omnium-Tempo 5km
1 Courtney Smith (FSSA)
2 Ashleigh Parsons (SA)
Junior Women Omnium-Elimination
1 Courtney Smith (FSSA)
2 Ashleigh Parsons (SA)
Junior Women Sprint – Final
1 Courtney Smith (SA)
2 Jessica Brown (SA)