Monese, Makae claim Lesotho’s first stage win at 2018 Lesotho Sky

Stage Four of the 2018 Lesotho Sky belonged to Team Alliance's
Phetetso Monese and Tumelo Makae

Lesotho claimed its first stage win of the 2018 Lesotho Sky Race after Phetetso Monese and Tumelo Makae charged to victory in the fourth stage of the six-day race in Malealea today.

Monese and Makae, who are racing for Team Alliance Insurance, completed the 56 kilometre stage in a time of two hours, 30 minutes and 53 seconds (2:30:53) to beat out Garrun-Tib Insurance’s Reinhard Zellhuber and Andrew Hill of South Africa by just two seconds

Rebloch Power’s Allard Basile and Remy Bourdon of France arrived in third place six minutes later.

On Friday the Lesotho Sky will head from Malealea and back to Roma, a gruelling ride of 86km. The race will then reach its climax with a 42km Roma loop on Saturday.

In the overall race classification, the South African pair of Zellhuber and Hill has taken the overall lead with two days to go. The Garrun-Tib Insurance pair, who won Tuesday’s stage, has a total time of 11:17:10 after four days.

Despite winning two stages (on Monday and Wednesday) the pre-race favourites Basile and Bourdon have dropped to second after a costly Day 4. The Frenchmen are just over five minutes adrift of Zellhuber and Hill with a total time of 11:22:58.

Lesotho’s Monese and Makae are in third place with a 12:24:18 time after four days.

Stage Four Results:

Elite Men:

1. Tumelo Makae and Phetetso Monese (Alliance) 2:30:53

2. Reinhard Zellhuber and Andrew Hill (Garrun-Tib Insurance) 2:30:55

3. Allard Basile and Remy Bourdon (Rebloch Power) 2:36:42

Open Men:

1. Jens Hitzeroth and Andreas Krensel (The Tall Ones) 3:35:41

2. Fourie Rossouw and Gerhard Erasmus (Storytellers) 3:40:17

3. Rene Waldvogel and Daniel Siller (Stoeckli) 3:57:18

Mixed Teams:

1. Kylie Hanekom and Nicholas Webb (Bike Hub) 3:40:23

2. Darryn Stow and Ila Stow (Lesotho Sky Lovers) 3:40:25

3. Marion Hemmerling and Hansjerg Bosler (Bavarian Bears) 4:08:18

Solo Men:

1. Axel Strauss 3:05:30

2. Joe Fritsch 3:09:19

3. Gary Cooper 3:14:33

Solo Women:

1. Regina Marunde 3:14:33

General Classification:

Elite Men:

1. Reinhard Zellhuber and Andrew Hill (Garrun-Tib Insurance) 11:17:10

2. Allard Basile and Remy Bourdon (Rebloch Power) 11:22:58

3. Tumelo Makae and Phetetso Monese (Alliance) 12:24:18

Open Men:

1. Fourie Rossouw and Gerhard Erasmus (Storytellers) 16:34:55

2. Jens Hitzeroth and Andreas Krensel (The Tall Ones) 16:57:22

3. Danie van Tonder and Kristian Steckler (Love The Ride International) 17:08:53

Mixed Teams:

1. Kylie Hanekom and Nicholas Webb (Bike Hub) 16:29:47

2. Darryn Stow and Ila Stow (Lesotho Sky Lovers) 16:49:09

3. Marion Hemmerling and Hansjerg Bosler (Bavarian Bears) 18:12:42

Solo Men:

1. Axel Strauss 13:29:06

2. Gary Cooper 15:17:13

3. Joe Fritsch 15:30:53

Solo Women:

1. Regina Marunde 15:17:13