![\"ccs-62657-0-81593000-1435502803.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ccs-62657-0-81593000-1435502803-1.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nAndrew Westaway won the 60km Bestmed Sondela MTB Classic, presented by ASG, near Bela-Bela in Limpopo <\/span><\/span>on Sunday<\/span><\/span>. Photo: Jetline Action Photo.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Westaway said doing well in the seven-race national series would now be his main ambition for the remainder of the season.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a good initiative from Bestmed and ASG.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve never done a series thing before and I thought let\u2019s have a bash at it. So I\u2019ve signed up for all of the races except for the one in Paarl.\u201d<\/p>\n The 47-year-old, who was also fifth in his age category at the national road champs, said he had enjoyed winning Sondela at his first attempt.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a very different race. It\u2019s flat with lots of sand, but lots of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n Westaway, who rides for Parks Cycling, said the overcast conditions had been perfect for racing but that his race had been less than ideal from the start.<\/p>\n \u201cI think I was lying about sixth in the first 20km section where there was a lot of sand. I got stuck behind two guys and we lost maybe a minute or two on the front three.\u201d<\/p>\n Around the halfway mark, they got onto a district road and the roadie within him kicked on an uphill to leave his companions behind and haul back the leaders.<\/p>\n The four stayed together until the last 10km, when Westaway took the lead into what would prove to be a decisive single-track.<\/p>\n \u201cI just rode off the front and then I was alone for the last six kilometres.\u201d<\/p>\n In the women\u2019s race, Dimension Data\u2019s Ronel van Straaten completed an impressive hat-trick of wins but it was not without a fight.<\/p>\n She hung on in a nail-biting finishing sprint to hold off Mandy de Beer, winner of Saturday\u2019s 40km, to take victory by a single second in 2:28:16. Bonny Swanepoel was a distant third in 2:33:14.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m very happy with my win,\u201d said Van Straaten, who was still battling the effects of flu.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause of yesterday\u2019s result, I knew Mandy would be strong and I knew I had to sit with her because I would lose her if I let her ride away.\u201d<\/p>\n The 37-year-old Meyerton resident said she and her younger rival had stayed together throughout the race.<\/p>\n The next event in the national series is the Bestmed Makro MTB Challenge, which takes place in Port Elizabeth on September 5. For more information, visit www.asgevents.co.za<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/a>Ronel van Straaten took a third consecutive victory in the 60km Bestmed Sondela MTB Classic, presented by ASG, near Bela-Bela in Limpopo on Sunday. Photo: Jetline Action Photo.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n