Times Of Swaziland: MUZI RULES IN MANDLA SIMELANE ROAD CLASSIC

MUZI RULES IN MANDLA SIMELANE ROAD CLASSIC
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BY SANELE JELE on 06/12/2021 08:38:00


SITEKI – Photo finish.
This is how one can describe the Mandla Simelane Road Classic winner, Muzi
Shabangu’s spectacular finish. After being tied for almost the entire race,
the national road champion holder shook off strong contender Kwanele Jele to win
the 115km race. He crossed the finish line in 3:20:58 hours beating Jele in by a
second. The latter crossed the finish line at 3:20:59 hours. Noteworthy is that
Shabangu, 23 years old beat last years’ time by at least seven minutes which
was set by the race winner Morgan Rudd at 3:27:13 hours. The start of the
official Eswatini Cycling Association (ECA) endorsed race had delayed close to
an hour start following the drizzling and last minute registration for some
cyclists.
main
The main race was supposed to start at 7am while the 60km and 30km had to start
30 minutes later. Despite the  delayed start, and wet weather conditions, it did
not  kill the spirit of the over 80 cyclists who came in the numbers for the
race which started and finished at Siteki Hotel.  When the race started, eyes
were on Shabangu, United States of America Orion Craigue who won the National
Road Championship, Swazi Frontier winner William Kelly and Swazi Frontier
runners-up Lungelo Mlangeni. Nobody thought Newcom Wheels Cycling Club 21-year
old Jele would give the winner a hard time until it was decided approximately
50m away from finish.
From the onset the duo of Shabangu and Jele broke away from the peloton (group
of riders) to set a new pace. They opened a 100m gap 20km into the race and just
before they knew it, the they were not visible from the peloton. The finish-up
was exciting to watch as Jele started accelerating 100m away but the MTN Khemani
  saw this coming and also accelerated swerving side to side. Jele tried to
catch him but it was too late as Shabangu had gain momentum toward the finish
line.
Won
“There w as   no way Jele could have won this race. I have experience in road
cycling. I knew he would want to beat me in the last   minute but I had more
energy was he was using his last energy,” said Shabangu excitement written all
over his face. Jele admitted he was running out of steam toward the finish line
and could not catch up with the eventual winner. “What pains me is that I rode
with him all the way only to lose just few meters away. I tried my best but my
best was not good enough for the experienced Shabangu,” he said.
Meanwhile coming third was another MTN Khemani cyclist Lungelo Mlangeni who
finished in 3:25:23 hours, while William Kelly came fourth on 3:31:37 hours with
Malvin Masango and Orion Craigue coming fifth and sixth respectively on 3:31:46
and 3:33:32 hours. Dinize Wilsch was the winner in the ladies category in the
115km beating Sebenele Magongo by approximately 30minutes. The 4Eva Cycling Club
rider finished the race in 4:23:06 hours while her club mate crossed the line in
4:51:44 hours.