Van Zyl, Bassingthwaighte Xterra Lite Champions

Ruan Van Zyl and Carmen Bassingthwaighte were the individual men’s and women’s competitors to beat at the 2014 TOTALSPORTS XTERRA Buffelspoort LITE presented by REHIDRAT® SPORT on Sunday, 26 January 2014.  Van Zyl claimed victory in 01hour20minutes27seconds, while Bassingthwaighte’s winning time was 01hour47 minutes 22seconds.

According to Van Zyl, he really enjoyed the route.  “Today was fun, but warm.  I had a good swim, even though the water was choppy.  The cycle was awesome, awesome fun.  Although I’m actually a mountain biker, I enjoyed the swim the most.  I lead from the start, so I didn’t have to worry about catching anyone, but I did have to worry about people catching me.  I will definitely be back next year,” said Van Zyl.  Michael Ferreira came in second, while Jeffrey Neethling finished third.

“This was my first triathlon ever,” said a very excited Bassingthwaighte.  “I’m not that good a swimmer and literally only swim breaststroke.  I really enjoyed the mountain bike discipline, especially the downhill.  This is where I made up on time.  On the run I literally focused on keeping up my lead.  The event is great, from the organisation to the trails and the commentators”.  Yzette Oelofse came in second, while Denine Van Heerden finished third.

EVENT INFORMATION:       Totalsports XTERRA Lite presented by REHIDRAT® SPORT

Date:                                          Sunday, 26 January 2014
Venue:                                       Buffelspoort Dam
Format:                                      400m swim, 17km mountain bike and 6km trail run
Started at:                                 09h00

XTERRA Warriors could look forward to stocking up on energy at the much loved Bokomo Breakfast Zone, while the REHIDRAT® Zone was a welcomed oasis for Warriors after a tough day of racing.

All entrants received a goody bag and event t-shirt, while all finishers were rewarded a stunning Totalsports XTERRA medal.

COMING UP NEXT:  The TOTALSPORTS XTERRA presented by REHIDRAT® SPORT heads to Grabouw from 21 – 23 February 2014.  Taking the form of the South African Championship, TOTALSPORTS XTERRA Grabouw forms part of the XTERRA World Tour.  Athletes competing at this event stand the chance to qualify for the world championship final in Hawaii later in the year.

Photo Credit ~ Volume Photography

RESULTS: