South Africa's Zellhuber and Hill win 2018 Lesotho Sky title

The 2018 Lesotho Sky is in the books with the title going to
Team Garrun-Tib Insurance

The South African duo of Reinhard Zellhuber and Andrew Hill won the sixth and final stage of the Lesotho Sky in Roma on Saturday to be crowned 2018 champions of the annual mountain bike showpiece.

The Garrun-Tib Insurance pair completed the 42 kilometres final stage at the Roma Arena in a time of one hour, 57 minutes and 29 seconds (1:57:29) beating the Rebloch Power French team of Allard Basile and Remy Bourdon by eight seconds.

Lesotho’s Team Alliance Insurance duo of Tumelo Makae and Phetetso Monese finished the final stage in 2:07:55 to complete Saturday’s podium.

The three teams also finished the overall classification in the same order after six challenging days of racing.

Zellhuber and Hill took 2018 Lesotho Sky gold with a final classification time of 17:23:18.

In the end it was a comfortable victory for the South African duo as they finished almost six minutes better than the fancied French pair of Basile and Bourdon who logged an overall time of 17:29:16.

In third place, Makae and Monese finished the race with a final total time of 18:58:46.

Stage Six Results:

Elite Men:

1. Reinhard Zellhuber & Andrew Hill (Garrun-Tib Insurance) 1:57:29

2. Allard Basile & Remy Bourdon (Rebloch Power) 1:57:37

3. Tumelo Makae & Phetetso Monese (Alliance) 2:07:55

Open Men:

1. Rene Waldvogel & Daniel Siller (Stoeckli) 2:49:42

2. Jens Hitzeroth & Andreas Krensel (The Tall Ones) 3:02:02

3. Danie van Tonder & Kristian Steckler (Love The Ride International) 3:04:41

Mixed Teams:

1. Darryn Stow and Ila Stow (Lesotho Sky Lovers) 2:58:11

2. Kylie Hanekom & Nicholas Webb (Bike Hub) 2:58:11

3. Marion Hemmerling & Hansjerg Bosler (Bavarian Bears) 3:21:07

Solo Men:

1. Axel Strauss 2:20:09

2. Joe Fritsch 2:33:14

3. Gary Cooper 2:39:22

Solo Women:

1. Regina Marunde 2:39:22

2018 Lesotho Sky Overall Classification:

Elite Men:

1. Reinhard Zellhuber & Andrew Hill (Garrun-Tib Insurance) 17:23:18

2. Allard Basile & Remy Bourdon (Rebloch Power) 17:29:16

3. Tumelo Makae & Phetetso Monese (Alliance) 18:58:46

Open Men:

1. Jens Hitzeroth & Andreas Krensel (The Tall Ones) 25:54:23

2. Rene Waldvogel & Daniel Siller (Stoeckli) 26:03:48

3. Danie van Tonder & Kristian Steckler (Love The Ride International) 26:15:11

Mixed Teams:

1. Kylie Hanekom & Nicholas Webb (Bike Hub) 25:23:59

2. Darryn Stow and Ila Stow (Lesotho Sky Lovers) 25:43:19

3. Marion Hemmerling & Hansjerg Bosler (Bavarian Bears) 27:56:21

Solo Men:

1. Axel Strauss 20:35:37

2. Joe Fritsch 23:24:16

3. Gary Cooper 23:29:37

Solo Women:

1. Regina Marunde 23:24:06