Kate Roberts and Hendrik de Villiers of South Africa have won the 2007 ATU African Triathlon Championships in Le Coco Beach, Mauritius. Hot and humid weather conditions and crystal clear water welcomed over one hundred athletes competing in the elite and age group races.
The 23 year-old Roberts, was able to defend her title after breaking away on the run to finish in a time of 2 hours 4 minutes and 50 seconds. A minute and forty-nine seconds behind in second place was ITU BG scholarship athlete - South Africa’s Marie Rabie and relative new-comer Claire Kinsley, also from South Africa, a further 2 minutes and 44 seconds back in third.
Roberts lead out of the swim but in the warm lagoon waters, but she was closely followed by Rabie into first transition. The two women joined forces on the bike on the first lap but it was not long before Rabie attempted to break away from her team mate. These attempts were unsuccessful however, and their combined effort was not enough to keep the chase group of Kinsley and U23 competitor Corinne Berg away.
The four athletes entered second transition together but early into the 10 kilometre run course it was Roberts who pulled away and, with the fastest run split of the day, was able to claim the title of African Triathlon Champion.
In the men’s race it was de Villiers who was able to best fellow countrymen Erhard Wolfaardt and Kent Horner to take first overall in a time of 1 hour 46 minutes and 53 seconds. Wolfaardt and Horner finished third and fifth, respectively.
The two pre-race favourites – Hendrik de Villiers from South Africa and David Hauss from France – took the early lead in the 1,500 metre swim. Athletes from outside of Africa were allowed to compete for the prize money, but not for the overall title and ranking points.
The two athletes worked together on the bike and maintained their lead over the chase group by over a minute. De Villiers had the better run on the day although he did not arrive in top form for this championship. Lap by lap de Villiers increased his lead over Hauss but suffered several cramps on the final lap to finish only 5 seconds ahead of the Frenchman.
Wolfaardt was the fastest runner from the chase group, but was not able to erase the almost 2 minute deficit after the bike, and finished in third place overall, second in the African Championships. A further 2 minutes back was African Championship bronze medalist Horner.
2007 ATU African Triathlon Championships – Elite Women
ROBERTS, Kate (RSA) 2:04:50*
RABIE, Marie (RSA) 2:06:39*
KINSLEY, Claire (RSA) 2:09:23*
COUDIERE, Soizic (FRA) 2:27:05
2007 ATU African Triathlon Championships – Elite Men
DE VILLIERS, Hendrik (RSA) 1:46:54*
HAUSS, David (FRA) 1:46:59
WOLFAARDT, Erhard (RSA) 1:48:39*
BARDI, David (FRA) 1:50:18
HORNER, Kent (RSA) 1:50:47*
FELGATE, Christopher (ZIM) 1:53:13*
MARTIN, David (ZIM) 2:00:36*
POLARD, Yann (FRA) 2:02:50
BHAGEEA, Michee (MRI) 2:11:59
*African Championships
The program of the weekend continued with the Annual General Meeting of the African Triathlon Union (ATU).
Hendrik de Villiers (RSA) crossing the line to win the 2007 ATU African Championships.
Kate Roberts (RSA) had the fastest run split of the day to win.