Monese retains Wines2Whales title

MASERU – Lesotho’s premier mountain bike rider, Phetetso Monese, is beaming with joy after successfully defending his title at the Wines2Whales Ride over the weekend in Cape Town.
The annual three-day race is one of South Africa’s top mountain bike races and Monese came out as the overall winner, retaining the crown he won last year.

Speaking yesterday, Monese said winning the Wines2Whales was a difficult task which makes his successful defence all the more sweeter.
This year Monese partnered with German rider Leonhard Lukoschek and they won the race in an overall time of 9 hours, 17 minutes and 51 seconds (09:17:51). Monese, who won all three stages of the competition, said he was surprised by his partner’s abilities over the three days.
Regarding his own performance, Monese added that there is still room for improvement.

“I prepared for this race because I knew it was coming and I knew what to expect,” Monese said.
“I am happy to have been able to come and defend my title. It is difficult to defend a title once you have won it because when you arrive everybody is already looking at you, and they know who to beat.”

He continued: “When you win the first stage, the second and third ones are going to be tougher because they all want to beat you, so I am happy. This year I had a new partner, the one I partnered with last year didn’t come, and I partnered with a German rider who is based in Cape Town. I was a bit worried about him at first but I was surprised when he started racing and I enjoyed riding with him.”
Monese and Lukoschek beat over 1500 riders and produced a dominant performance throughout.

However, with International Cycling Union (UCI) events over for this year, Monese will race in Ficksburg next week and then close his calendar until 2018. “(The Wines2Whales Ride) brings different challenges and it means we always have to improve and that helps you grow as a rider,” Monese said. “There was a point where we had to take our bicycles and walk for a long time and you have to be able to walk with the bicycle on your shoulder.”

Luciah Phahla