![\"ccs-62657-0-63625800-1424788150.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.bikehub.co.za\/production\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ccs-62657-0-63625800-1424788150.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nBestmed-Shukuma Madibaz cyclist Conrad Viljoen (centre) took his fourth victory at the Daily Dispatch SPAR Cycle Tour in East London on Sunday. Donovan O\u2019Reilly (left) claimed the runner-up spot, while Viljoen\u2019s teammate Francois Geldenhuys finished third overall. \/\/ Photo: Supplied.<\/span><\/p>\n Another Madibaz rider, Waldo Gronum, led a bunch sprint to the line to take fourth place overall in 2:41:19.<\/p>\n Also in that mass sprint was clubmate Allison Hertel, who was just pipped to the post in the women\u2019s race by defending champion Anriette Schoeman.<\/p>\n Former Buffalo City resident Viljoen led a team of six NMMU riders for the 100km road race, in which he placed second last year. <\/p>\n Now based in Port Elizabeth, he said that although it was an away race for the team, it felt like a home race to him. <\/p>\n \u201cKnowing the route well and how the wind usually blows made it strategically easier for me and I used it to my advantage,\u201d said Viljoen.<\/p>\n The 30-year-old said he believed the organisers had created a course that was safe, challenging and tested riders\u2019 abilities in all sectors. <\/p>\n \u201cThe route is very hilly in the first half, which gives an opportunity to the climbers. However, after the turn it is always fast and the sprinters can reel in most breakaways.\u201d<\/p>\n Viljoen\u2019s major challengers, O\u2019Reilly and Royce Griffin, attacked early on and were joined by Geldenhuys and teammate Christiaan van Aardt.<\/p>\n \u201cI saw the gap was being closed halfway up the Hemingways Casino climb (the first major ascent) and managed to get across and win the king of the mountains on top. <\/p>\n \u201cThe group came back together again before Francois attacked again and went up the road for about 5km before the bunch closed him down,\u201d said Viljoen.<\/p>\n The second big climb began 20km into the race with Griffin putting in a sizeable effort while Viljoen and Van Aardt stuck to his back wheel. <\/p>\n \u201cRoyce got dropped halfway up the climb and the two of us opened a gap of about 40 seconds before Donovan and the bunch closed the gap to us,\u201d said Viljoen.<\/p>\n The former Port Rex Technical High School learner said the decisive break was orchestrated when he, Geldenhuys and O\u2019Reilly joined forces. <\/p>\n \u201cWe worked well together to build a gap of two minutes and 40 seconds on the chasing bunch. <\/p>\n \u201cWe started attacking Donovan about 75km into the race on the rolling hills but unfortunately Francois got dropped.<\/p>\n \u201cOn the last climb, about 6km from the finish, I attacked and managed to hold Donovan off to the finish,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n Viljoen said the Madibaz cycling squad were aiming to reach new heights this year and really excel as a team. <\/p>\n \u201cThis year we have a good mix of experience and youth and our focus will remain on local races and the surrounding provinces,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n NMMU\u2019s Anja Gerber and Bradley Gouveris claimed victory in the junior categories, while Mandy Akom triumphed in the over-50 category.<\/p>\n Find Madibaz4U on Facebook<\/a> and Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Bestmed-Shukuma-Madibaz club cyclist Conrad Viljoen claimed a dominating fourth victory at the Daily Dispatch SPAR Cycle Tour in East London on Sunday. Viljoen crossed the finish line along the Esplanade in a time of 2:34:35, with his teammate Francois Geldenhuys finishing third on the day in 2:35:53, 43 seconds behind second-placed Donovan O\u2019Reilly. Bestmed-Shukuma Madibaz […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":49517,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[3848,4393,4391,4392],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-20451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-bestmed-shukuma-madibaz","tag-conrad-viljoen","tag-daily-dispatch-spar-cycle","tag-east-london"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20451"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20451\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20451"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=20451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}