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‘AEROMAN’ RACES TO TOP IN STYLE

11/07/2022 15:33:00 Sanele Jele

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SITEKI – He did not only defend the championship, but set a new record.

That is the story of United States of America-born cyclist Orion ‘Aeroman’ Craigue who made a bold statement by winning this year’s edition of the Value Auto Parts 2 Fast 2 Furious Cycling Road Race in style. The race was staged at MA Ranches; 13km along the MR16 from the Big Bend turn off. The race was divided into five categories; namely the 96km, 76km and 24km. Other categories were the 10km and 5km events, which were for children. ‘Aeroman’ clocked an improved time of 02:34:41 hours to beat his strong contender in Commonwealth Games-bound Newcom Wheels’ Kwanele Jele to the first spot. The latter clocked at 2:46:50 hours ahead of third-placed Malvern Masango who crossed the dotted line after 2:46:51 hours.

winner

‘Aeroman’ was the winner of the main race last year after beating national champion Muzi Shabangu. Last year, ‘Aeroman’ crossed the finish line in 03:38:58 hours while Shabangu came second in 04:08:57 hours,with Morgan Rudd coming third in 04:09:52 hours. National Under-23 Road Champion Kwanele Jele was fourth after clocking 04:14:47 hours. The main race (96km) started like a house on fire, with all cyclists gunning to lead. However, it was Jele and ‘Aeroman’ who broke away from the peloton. The peloton was led by National Road Champion Muzi Shabangu who did not finish the race due to injury. Also part of the peloton was Masango, William Kelly, Lungelo Mlangeni and Nzuzo Nsibande, among others. For about 30km from the start, Jele was on the lead and ‘Aeroman’ kept his cool and treaded carefully before taking full charge of the lead after 50km.

Jele tried to catch up with ‘Aeroman’ but he seemed to be running out of steam. He drifted slowly and finally joined the peloton while the American man opened a wider gap with each passing kilometer towards the winning point. He did it in style just like last year where he finished about 20 minutes earlier. “It was a nice race; at first I wanted to stick to the peloton, but I saw Kwanele breaking away and I tried to lead the peloton on but they were not catching up, so I decided to close in on Jele as I noted he was opening up a gap,” said ‘Aeroman’.

competing

He said he tried to work with Jele but he realised they were both competing and he decided to take him on. “When I took off, I could see that he was not catching up and I decided to maintain my pace and ride solo. It was a good race and I enjoyed it, but I was so sad that Muzi could not finish the race,” he said. Meanwhile, Jele said the race was challenging because he was not good in flats. “I should confess that I am good on climbs and I could not catch up with ‘Aeroman’ as he accelerated more. However, I did not give up as I joined the peloton and rested a bit before i took charge towards the finish line,” he said. Masango, on the other hand, said he started riding for social and fitness purposes. “I never thought of competing but when I see that I can compete, why not? I fasten the belt and test the waters. I was happy to be number three overall,” he said.