Wolfaardt, Steyn triumph yet again at Roodeplaat

It was business as usual for Potchefstroom’s Erhard Wolfaardt and Centurion’s Andrea Steyn on Sunday morning (October 25) as they notched up their third victory, in as many weeks, in the 2009 BSG Energade Triathlon Series.

Joining a huge field of over 1300 athletes in scorching weather conditions at Roodeplaat Dam in Pretoria the victorious pair showed it is going to take a herculean effort from the other top athletes in the competition to keep them from winning the series again this year.

The two reigning BSG Energade champions now boast an unbelievable winning streak in the competition. With today’s victory Steyn recorded her 10th straight win in the women’s division – she was last beaten in the final of the 2007 series - and Wolfaardt his ninth race victory on the trot - last losing to Claude Eksteen in the opening race of the 2008 series.

For Steyn, competing in her own backyard, it wasn’t a walk in the park however, as a spirited effort from the never-say-die Kate Roberts saw her pushed to the last 500m’s of the race.

The latter had the better of the early salvos in the race coming out the water 27 seconds clear of Steyn after a non-wetsuit 600m swim, which was made a little more challenging with the masses of hyacinths congesting the dam’s edge.

With Cape Town’s Vicky van der Merwe hot on Roberts’ heels and a group of about five other athletes following closely, Roberts wasn’t able to break away on the cycle leg as she had hoped. Steyn soon showed her competitive edge catching Roberts and the rest of the lead bunch around the 8km mark of the bike leg. With no significant breaks it meant a group of about 10 athletes charged into transition with only seconds separating them.

Once again, just like in the first two races of the series, Steyn and Roberts raced ahead and covered the 5km run shoulder-to-shoulder. Unlike at Potch Dam last week, where it was a sprint finish with only two seconds separating them, Steyn picked it up a gear with 500m’s to go and raced home to beat Roberts by six seconds.

Commenting after her win in a time of 1:01:37, Steyn said, with Roberts (1:01:43) so competitive on the run this year, tactics and pacing herself throughout the series is going to be crucial to secure her fourth series title.

Despite missing out on a win, yet again today, Roberts, who competed in the series for the first time 10 years ago, vowed to keep trying to outmanoeuvre Steyn and end the latter’s winning streak. With Van der Merwe (1:02:53) finishing third for the second week in a row and showing signs of returning to her best form after a sojourn in Australia, Roberts could have an allie who can help her beat Steyn as the series progresses.

While the women’s affair was a tight race Wolfaardt always looked in control in the men’s contest despite the lead changing hands a number of times.

Young Henri Schoeman of Durban again gave the huge field a swimming lesson flying out the water nearly a minute ahead of his closest rivals but was soon caught on the 20km bike leg. Here, again, a dozen or so riders played cat-and-mouse with no one taking control. It was then left to Wolfaardt to charge into the lead in the final run stage to secure yet another victory in a time of 52:57.

Second was Sander Berk in 53:23 and third a resurgent Hendrik de Villiers in 53:38. De Villiers, a four-time winner of the series is slowly returning to the form that helped him make the SA Olympic squad last year before illness put paid to his dream. Wolfaardt will be wise to keep a close eye on De Villiers who could prove to be troublesome near the end of the series.

At present though all Wolfaardt wants to talk about is his new Cervélo bike which he said made the cycle leg at Roodeplaat a real pleasure. Both him and Steyn have a new set of wheels and gave their bikes some credit for their respective victories.

Juniors

In the junior men’s section Potchefstroom youngster Abrahm Louw cruised to his third victory in the series in 53:31 and really doesn’t look like being challenged by anyone this year. He finished well clear, by nearly two minutes, of second placed Rudolf Naude (55:26) and Henri Schoeman (55:46) who was third.

The junior women’s section on the other hand is proving to be somewhat more exciting with three different girls taking home the winner’s cheque in the series so far. Today TUKS student, Carlyn Fischer took the laurels in a time of 1:03:27 ahead of Capetonian, Ashleigh Blackwell 1:04:16 (last week’s winner) followed by Lauren Dance – winner of the opening race – third in a time of 1:04:41. This is certainly the one division in the competition were the final race will determine who is crowned the junior women’s champion for 2009.

Veterans
In the veteran women’s race there seems to be no stopping Sue Peterkin who recorded her third victory in the 2009 series crossing the line in a time of 1:11:16 with Lynette Fischer claiming second spot in 1:14:21 and Lee Thompson coming third in 1:15:58.

Glen Gore strengthened his position in the men’s veterans division as he won his second BSG Energade Triathlon Series race of the year in a time of 57:29 After winning the opening race at Midmar, Gore was not at his best in Potch but showed the likes of Patrick Hofer (last week’s winner) and Piers Pirow what he is made of at Roodeplaat with Hofer second in a time of 59:03 and Pirow third in 1:01:42.

Kids race
And while these athletes battled it out for the big prize money the big winners of the day who got the loudest cheers were the nearly 300 children who enthusiastically participated in the BSG Energade Kid’s Series race that was held before the senior athletes lined up for their start.

With some budding triathletes, as young as five, competing in two age groups it was awesome to watch the gusto with which they set about the task at hand. And with having fun the name of the game many youngsters (up to the age of 14) got their first taste of this multisport and now eagerly wait to participate in the next kiddie’s race.

There is now a two week break before the series moves to Germiston Lake on Sunday, November 8 for the fourth leg of the competition which will get underway at 9am as there is no kids event (for safety reasons). To enter online or for more information about the Germiston race visit www.bsgenergadetriseries.co.za or be at the lake on the morning of the event between 6.30am and 8.30am to enter on the day.