Issued by: Octagon South Africa

Bradley Potgieter took overall first place.

Photos: Ron Gaunt

In the Elite Men's category, Malcolm Lange (MTN Energade) took first place (02:43:39), while in the Elite Ladies category Chrissie Viljoen (MTN Energade) walked away with the honours with a finishing time of 03:08:27. Both were awarded a significant R2,500 in prize money.

Over 250 cyclists took part in the event which was glowingly received by the cycling fraternity, most believing that the event is one which will grow to become one of the most important events on the cycling calendar. Most of South Africa's best pro teams were in attendance, including House of Paints, MTN Energade, Mr Price, Acsis and Toyota Cyclelab.

Said Chrissie Viljoen, MTN Energade pro team: “The Engen Dynamic Cycle Challenge has been the best organised cycling race this year and I really enjoyed the challenging route. It has all the potential to grow into a very significant event.”

The winner of the Veteran Men (30-39) category was Donovan van Gelder, while Andrew McLean took first place in the Veteran Men (40-49) category and Kobus Ehlers claimed the 50+ category. Veteran 30-39 category ladies competitor, Charmaine Mc Callum succeeded in her class while Mirelle Gerhardt took the honours in the 40+ category.

Said Natie Maphanga, General Manager Corporate Affairs, Engen Petroleum Ltd: “I am thrilled to have witnessed such a great contingent of pro teams in action at the first of Engen's Dynamic Cycle Challenge events. Congratulations to the MTN Energade team who took the honours in many of the categories today. Our plans for this event is to grow it exponentially over the next two years, and to see it become one of the key events on the cycling calendar, an event where we can acknowledge excellent performance with excellent rewards, as we did today. We are also delighted that we are able to contribute to the process of transformation in cycling through our association with Velokhaya. We hope to see even more competitors at the second Engen Dynamic Challenge, planned to take place in the Western Cape on 11 October this year.”

Said Glyn Broomberg, race organiser and CEO of Velokhaya: "We are very pleased at the outcome on the day of the event. It was important for us that Engen's entry into cycling events was very successful and with the great team at Velokhaya, we were able to stage one of the most organised rides of this year. We received very positive feedback from both the pros and fun riders and look forward to presenting the next event in Wellington later in the year and returning to Pietermartizburg in 2009."

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[1 Jul 2008 14:57]

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