Africa-Press – Lesotho. Nedbank Lesotho and the Federation of Cycling Lesotho (FCL) have launched a series of races to be held over the next two months. The three races are going to be used as Lesotho’s preparations for the World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, in August and Nedbank is pumping a total of M80 000 which includes prize monies.
The first race will be held on June 18 at the Masianokeng Lifestyle Centre and will be a mountain-bike competition. The next event will be held on July 2 at Makoanyane Square and it will be a road racing event with a short circuit race where competitors will complete laps.
The last event will be held on July 17 and that will be the Mountain Bike Championships at Maseru Mall. There are seven riders preparing for the World Championships but the final number will be confirmed shortly before the showpiece.
The final list will depend on the riders’ readiness and fitness for competition. Speaking at Tuesday’s launch of the race, FCL president Makatile Rammotang said the association is celebrating two decades of partnership with Nedbank.
He said the FCL is proud that through Nedbank’s support, they have managed to maintain their third position on the continental rankings. Lesotho is ranked third behind South Africa and Namibia in Africa and 50th in the world by the International Cycling Union (UCI).
“We want to use cycling as an economic driver to make sure we grow our economy. We have been working with Nedbank and we rank third on the continent; we are proud,” Rammotang said.
“We are in preparation for the World Championships in Glasgow and as a country (and) we want to make sure our athletes who are going to represent us will be in good condition in terms of fitness,” he added.
Rammotang credited Nedbank for helping the FCL create opportunities for riders such as training camps in Europe. Currently, Tumelo Makae is in Switzerland.
“We spoke with Nedbank to help us host big races in the country in preparation for the world champs.
Nedbank heard us when we said we want to grow the sport, we have been able to export two athletes who are in Europe now. With this funding these races are going to be successful,” Rammotang said.
Speaking on behalf of Nedbank, the bank’s managing director, Nkau Matete, said the bank supports sport because it wants to contribute to the development of sport as it is a responsible public citizen in the country.
“In return, we expect that where you have a sphere of influence, some of you have businesses (or) kids opening accounts for the first time, think of the green bank,” Matete added.
“I was just thinking about our involvement as Nedbank in sports, we are not a bank with a big budget but we are a bank with a big heart, we try to reach out on many fronts,” he said.
“It was only last month when we had what is now known as Nedbank 8 (in football), it was very successful and now we have started with cycling.
I want to recognise Mark West. I ride with him, we are very casual,” he continued. West is the team manager of the African Dream Team MTB Lesotho team which is Lesotho’s premier and only professional cycling team.
Matete said it was during one of those rides that West reminded him of the races Nedbank supported in the past and how far back their relationship with cycling goes.
Matete said there was a breakdown in relations during the pandemic but the two parties have now rekindled it. “I also happen to be a casual person in mountain biking, I am mentioning this because when you have a relationship you have to nurture it.
You must not just be someone who rides a bicycle inside Nedbank, (you must) make it your own business as well to make sure you know when there are events,” he said.
“There’s a regional competition our athletes were competing in,” Rammotang said.
“I remember I saw Tumelo Makae (and) Phetetso Monese on the leaderboard. Those are small things but can you imagine what it does to the sponsor if you share such information. They do see that the little that we do here nationally produces people who can participate internationally.”
For More News And Analysis About Lesotho Follow Africa-Press
