Gouveris, Schoeman melt Butterworth field

Port Elizabeth cyclists Bradley Gouveris and Anriette Schoeman were the toast of the annual Butterworth-to-East London race after powering to impressive wins in a tough 2018 event on Sunday morning.

Gouveris took his first piece of silverware in the race, while Schoeman defended the title she won last year in a thrilling sprint finish that saw East London’s Cindy Schwulst again settle for runner-up.

The men’s race had a strong field, with last year’s top three from the Rand Water-Transnet team all back, including defending champion Thando Zothe, aiming for another win.

However, Gouveris proved too strong for Zothe and Warwick Minkly, after the three broke away early in the race and stuck together until near the end.

Gouveris won in a time of two hours, 40 minutes and 14 seconds.

Zothe had to settle for runner-up, 4min 1sec behind the winner, while Minkly was third with a time of 2:51:44.

In the women’s race, Schoeman and Schwulst stuck together from start to finish, with Schoeman just having the legs to win in a time of 3h 1min 49sec. Schwulst clocked in a second later.

Siska van der Bijl took third place, 8min 41sec off the pace.

In the 60km Komga-to-East London race, Jason Reed won in an exciting sprint finish ahead of Eben Hartslief and Jason Peach, with just five seconds between the top three.

Yanga Stofile was the only woman in the 60km race.

“She had won the race before it had even started, [but] she really put in a big effort,” event organiser Fumi May said.