STRONG MEN’S CATEGORY IN INYATSI FRONTIER

 MBABANE – Excitement levels are shooting up, as Inyatsi Swazi Frontier mountain bike stage race starts in two days’ time.

The pairs’ stage race will start at Hwane Resort outside Mbabane on Thursday and finish at Maguga Lodge outside Pigg’s Peak two days later. According to a correspondence, from organiser Lesley Foss, active tourists from as far as Sri Lanka are heading to Eswatini this week to participate in Eswatini’s only mountain bike stage race.

“In this 14th edition, the race has introduced a new category for solo riders who must find their way along the unmarked route alone and without the companionship of a teammate.

“The solo category has attracted both male and female riders from South Africa and the stage is set for some exciting racing,” read a statement from Foss.
The men’s team category is going to be hotly contested.  Defending champions in Mormond’s Thulani Gule and William Kelly have split to form new teams with different partners but all still sponsored by Mormond Electrical.  Gule has teamed up with South Africa’s Christo Carelsen while Kelly has opted to team up with former winner Sihawu Dlamini.  

“South African Rudolf Pretorius, overall winner of the recent Swazi 3 Reserves MTB race and Inyatsi Construction’s Sifiso Mhlanga who is also a former champion, could put the Mormond teams in the “Hurt Box” as they will be putting the hammer down and racing furiously for the win.

“International Tool Hire has sponsored local racing ‘snakes’ Sihle Dlamini and Lungelo Mlangeni to race their first-ever Inyatsi Swazi Frontier.  Both of them were in the 3 Reserves Top 10 and this pairing is a strong contender for overall honours if they can master using a GPS unit to navigate the unmarked route,” further read the statement.

Recent strong performances were delivered by team Umoba from Big Bend, Laurie Murton and Barry Muirhead and although they are also participating for the first time, they have potential to be in the dice for the podium.

Total Eswatini’s team of Phil Henning and Martin Herbst are also an unknown duet but Henning has stage race experience and the pair has been training hard knowing that Inyatsi Swazi Frontier is an adventurous mountain bike race.

Logico’s team led by Sam Hodgson who did the first-ever Frontier back in 2006 are among those to watch.  He returns with novice Ian Jones who is taking on the Frontier for the first-time.  Both have prepared well and are looking strong and could be in the mix at the front end of the field.
Windhoek Light’s team of Brian Henn and Kieren Vincent have completed Frontier before but with different teammates and are looking forward to a solid performance together.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: