Rather than risk falling, Calitz and Rukadza pull back from lead teams

AJ CALITZ raced to his fifth AfricanX title at Boschendal yesterday when he and partner Bernard Rukadza crossed the line in third place in the final stage over 20km.

The Calitz and Rukadza K-Way Wintergreen team had built a seven-minute lead after wins in the first two stages and were content to secure the overall win with a no-risks approach in the final leg, which saw Gauteng trail stars Thabang Madiba and Lucky Miya snatch victory, finishing 35 seconds ahead of Ben Matiso and Retshipile Khotla (Team Edunova).

Similarly top trail athletes Nicolette Griffioen (Gauteng) and Carla Van Huysteen (KZN) secured overall victory in the women’s competition for the Key Health Neverest/K-Way team, after placing third in the final stage, regaining the title they won in 2015. David del Fante and Daneil Feldmann took the honours in the mixed competition.

“We knew all along that we would not be able to secure a stage three win as the route is too flat to compete with some of the faster teams,” said Calitz. “Bernie is fast enough on the flats, but I’m not! There was a technical downhill section over rocks and rather than risk falling, we pulled back from the lead teams, but kept pace to the finish to secure the win.”

Calitz and Rukadza finished five minutes ahead of Johannesburg trail legends, Madiba and Miya (Team #gearupgetout is #timetoplay), with UCT students Timothy Chambers and Jonathan Black (Old Mutual Wealth) edging out Edunova for the final podium position.

Kate Mapham and Danette Smith (Team Tailwind Ladies) took the stage win in the women’s race after taking the lead from veterans Chantel Nienaber and Katya Soggot (Team Rehidrat) just 300m from home to win by 12 seconds, with champions Van Huysteen and Griffioen four minutes back in third.