Sprint finish sees Steyn win in nail biter

A sprint finish saw Pretoria’s Andrea Steyn pip Bloemfontein’s Kate Roberts to the post, by a mere two seconds, in one of the most thrilling climaxes to a BSG Energade Triathlon Series race in years at Potch Dam today.

With the two experienced athletes running neck-and-neck coming into the home straight of the 5km final run stage of the three discipline race it was Steyn, the reigning series champion, who snatched victory with a final surge of speed in the last few metres to the tape.

A triumphant Steyn, finishing in a time of 1:05:58, said that while her running abilities had pulled her through in the dying strides it is her improved swimming that laid the foundation for her second victory in the series, in as many weeks.

Coming from a duathlon background the Centurion physiotherapist has always struggled in the latter discipline and generally exits the 600m swim minutes behind the likes of Roberts (1:06:00) and today’s third placed athlete, Vicky van der Merwe (1:07:39). In the series thus far however, Steyn who is training under the watchful eye of top triathlon coach Libby Burrell, has shown a huge improvement in this area (swim) and is competitive from the first transition.

“I’ve been working really hard on my swimming with a view to competing in triathlon events overseas from about July next year to determine where I am in relation to the other top athletes in the world and qualifying for the Olympics in London in 2012,” Steyn said after the race.

But, while Steyn’s hard work in the pool is paying dividends, Roberts has upped her game, especially in the running stakes, making this rivalry one to savour as the series progresses.

A disappointed Roberts said she felt good during the run and considered making a break to try and put some pressure on Steyn, but wasn’t sure that would be the right tactic against the reigning champion, who is arguably the strongest running triathlete in the country. “I decided to just stick with Andrea in the run and then I took the wrong line into the final corner which broke my rhythm a bit before heading into the straight where she just out-sprinted me at the end,” said the Bloem Olympian.

With van der Merwe also back in action after a flu lay-off and Carla Germishuys in the mix, interesting times lie ahead with race three at Roodeplaat Dam on Sunday, October 25 perhaps an event that could see Steyn’s nine BSG Energade Triathlon Series winning streak – she has not lost a race in the competition since December 2007 - come to an end. Taking place at her (Steyn) favourite venue though that will take a big effort from Roberts, Van der Merwe or Germishuys.

Wolfaardt triumphs again
In the men’s race it was business as usual for Erhard Wolfaardt who once again showed he has no equal at the moment in the sport in this country as her cruised to victory in 57:03.

With at least a dozen athletes playing cat-and-mouse during the swim and cycle stages of the race it was again the 5km run that proved the differentiating factor with a hard running Wolfaardt just too strong for the rest of the field.

In the words of four-time BSG Energade Triathlon Series Champion, Hendrik de Villiers who is on the comeback trail after a two year lay-off from the series, “I don’t have the edge yet and I think Erhard is out of reach for most of us at the moment. But we’ll see what happens as the series progresses!”

Speaking after the race Wolfaardt, who is now honing his skills in Potch, said it was nice to win in his new home town and felt it was “A good day at the office”, albeit hot and pretty hard. “The bike was interesting with the BSG team guys mixing it up so it came down to the run again. I just pushed the pace from the beginning and it paid off.”

Also pushing hard for the second week in-a-row was another Potch-based athlete and Olympian, Sander Berk (Neth), winner of the series in 2007, who crossed the line, once again as the runner-up to Wolfaardt, in a time of 57:31.

Moving up the podium was the Zimbabwean-born Chris Felgate, who now lives in Johannesburg, finishing third in 58:01 with young TUKS student, Wikus Weber putting the disappointment of not finishing last week’s race behind him to come fourth in 58:01. A determined Michael Davidson, also of Jozi, turned in one of his best performances to take fifth spot in a time of 58:11.

Amongst the juniors Potch’s Abrahm Louw (57:42) again showed he is in a class of his own finishing 39 seconds behind Wolfaardt to comfortably win the junior men’s division ahead of Rudolph Naudé (1:00:31) and Rodney Peach (1:05:03).

In the junior women’s category, Cape Town’s Ashleigh Blackwell had a better day than last week at Midmar (where she needed medical attention) and won in 1:08:52 with UJ student Lauren Dance second in 1:09:15. She was followed by reigning junior women’s champion, Carlyn Fischer in 1:10:45, who is returning to triathlon action after breaking her collarbone at the Junior World Cup in Turkey in August.

Pretoria’s Sue Peterkin was again at the top of her game in the veteran women’s section winning in 1:15:37 with Lynette Fischer second in 1:17:49 and Tracy Myer third in 1:22:29.

Patrick Hofer, the reigning men’s veteran champion from Randburg also returned to the podium after missing Midmar and won in 1:02:30 with Piers Pirow third in 1:03:10. Durban’s Glen Gore, who won the opening race in this division, had to be satisfied with a third place after finishing in 1:04:11.

The master men category was won by Reinhardt Manfred (1:10:29) with Charles Naude (1:12:27) second and Boeta Pretorius (1:14:28) third.

The series now moves to Roodeplaat Dam in Pretoria where spectators can expect sparks to fly, especially in the women’s race, with the action getting underway in the senior race at 9.30am. As is customary, prior to this serious action, youngsters will participate in the BSG Energade Kids Series making this event one that can be enjoyed by the entire family.

To participate enter online for the main series at www.bsgenergadetriseries.co.za and for children under the age of 14 at www.kidsseries.co.za for the BSG Energade Kids Series. For further details contact Corné Grobler on 082 568 0301 and note late entries will be accepted at Roodeplaat on race day from 6.30am to 9am.