MUZI CRUISES TO 4TH WIN

MPAKA – He is a man for the big stage.

MTN Khemani cycling sensation Muzi Shabangu has produced another golden performance to shake off strong competition from Kwanele Jele in the National Road Cycling Championships. Shabangu opened a gap of about 500 metres ahead of second-placed Jele to win the cycling’s flagship event in style. It was the champion’s fourth win.

The national race which attracted over 50 cyclists, who braved the cold weather, started and finished at Mpaka yesterday. In the 115km race, cyclists took two laps from Mpaka, King Mswati III International Airport and turned back to Hlane before winning at Mpaka. The 75km was from Mpaka; went past the airport to Hlane; Entandweni off ramp; then back to Mpaka to finish.

Won

Muzi won the race in 2017, 2019 and 2021.  In 2015, it was won by Darren Dunn, while in 2016 Sicelo Phiri was the champion. Winning it in 2018 was Morgan Rudd. There were no championships in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Commonwealth Games-bound national cyclist crossed the finish line after 3:09:59 hours, while Jele crossed the dotted line of the 115km in 3:11:04hours. Third-placed William Kelly completed the list of podium finishers with a time of 3:11:05 hours.

It was envisaged from the early stages of the race that the MTN three-time national road king would defend his title after he opened an unassailable gap of about 100 metres 1km into the race. The peloton of cyclists tried to catch up with him, but he was just cruising and he opened more spaces with each kilometre into the race. In the peloton following Shabangu, cyclists took turns to lead it, with United States of America cyclist, Orion Craigue setting the pace, while Jele and Kelly led sometimes.

Determined

However, in the end Jele, who is also part of the 12 athletes for next month’s Commonwealth Games, broke away from the group of determined competitors few metres from the winning point to win the silver medal. “I’m happy to win the race and for me I can say, I deserved to win it because I had done enough preparations. Winning this competition also goes along with being determined. I told myself that this is the most important race of the year, so I had to show up and defend my title,” said Shabangu.

He also said this was a good training ahead of the Commonwealth Games. He also highlighted that he felt he needed to improve his time if he had to compete fairly in the Commonwealth Games. The games will be held in Birmingham, United Kingdom from July 28 to August 8.

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