Calvin tightens Telkom’s stranglehold with Ride for Sight win

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With the win, the 25-year-old ensured that the Ernest Hunt Trophy, which comes with the famous 116km win, remains with team Telkom, following Reynald Butler’s 2016 win, also from Team Telkom.

Marne van Niekerk, who was closely behind Beneke, and Johannes Nel, completed the top three.

Beneke is from a great cycling family, with both his father Gary and uncle Mark being past winners of the event and among the country’s top cyclists during their peaking times.

The race, which is meant to raise funds for research to find treatments for retinal blindness, has raised approximately R10m since its existence.

It’s also a seeding event for the 2018 Cape Town Cycle Tour and saw a jaw-dropping 5 000 cyclists take to the streets of Boksburg for its 29th edition.

The event is organised by Retina South Africa in partnership with the City of Ekurhuleni and naming sponsor Dis-Chem Pharmacies.

Next year marks its 30th edition and Retina South Africa’s Claudette Medefindt has promised more ‘good stuff’ is in store come the milestone event.

Beneke has once again raised the bar with his win, with his impressive finishing time being married with an average speed of 43.26km/ h – significantly quicker than the race average of 40km/ h.

This was also his first major win in his career, which promises bigger things in future.

In the women’s category, SA Road champion Heidi Dalton took top honours with a time of 3:12:28. She was followed by Joanna van De Winkel and Cashandra Slingerland.

Joshua Lubbe impressed in the Junior Men class, clocking 2:41:26.

Seventy cyclists from the newly formed Ekurhuleni Cycling Club also participated.

Co-organisers of the event, Springs Wheelers, Hamnet Emergency Communications, Road Rangers, Benoni Red Cross and ASM Safety Consultants are all volunteers. – @SabeloBoksburg

Gear up for a bumper Dis-Chem Ride for Sight 2017