Africa-Press – Namibia. ONE of Namibia’s biggest mass sporting events, the Paratus Namibian Cycle Classic will be back with a bang this weekend, with Paratus’ announcement of a sponsorship of about N$800 000 over three years, giving it a fresh impetus.
ONE of Namibia’s biggest mass sporting events, the Paratus Namibian Cycle Classic will be back with a bang this weekend, with Paratus’ announcement of a sponsorship of about N$800 000 over three years, giving it a fresh impetus.
The Namibian Cycle Classic was launched in 1999 and has since then taken place every year, even during covid when race entries were limited and prize giving scrapped.
Entries have been streaming in over the past week, especially after a late surge according to race organiser Pierre de Plooy.
“Online entries were a bit slow and then with the Namibian domain name problems, internet access was restricted on Tuesday, but there was a late surge with 200 entrants alone on Wednesday. We will definitely top the 1 000 mark for the first time in recent years,” he said.
As usual the event will start with the mountain bike classic at the IJG trails at 07h00 tomorrow with riders competing in 15km, 30km and 50km categories, while the road race classic takes place at the same time on Sunday, covering 15km, 25km, 60km and 100km categories, while the start and finish is at SKW.
The Namibian, as co-title sponsor, has also ploughed back with a significant financial investment, including sponsoring some of the teams.
“Amongst others, we are sponsoring two water points, as well as 60 cyclists from Physically Active Youth – we paid their entrance fee and also helped repair their bikes,” Elrich Tilling of The Namibian said.
“We are also sponsoring nine para-cyclists – four visually impaired riders who are riding in two pairs on tandems, and five wheelchair riders,” he added.
Danny Meyer of the Windhoek Rotary Club and a member of the race organising committee said it will be a big logistical exercise.
“We hope to raise about N$200 000 for the Windhoek Rotary Club that will go towards needy causes, but the entrance fee of N$150 per cyclist will go to our technical partners who use it for a sports development trust. There are also quite a lot of expenses like paying the marshalls and cleaning up afterwards, and it will be quite a big logistical exercise, but we have to make sure that it runs like a well-oiled machine,” he said.
There will be entertainment areas at both venues, with face-painting, jumping castles, as well as the Kiddies Classic on Saturday morning. Some local artists will be performing and both the IJG trails and SKW venues will have large screens where people can follow the progress of the riders.
The Namibian will provide extensive coverage of the event with live commentary on Desert Radio and live tracking on its social media platforms.
The total prize money of N$80 000 will be distributed over all the categories, while the top cyclists can receive cash and prizes in kind to the value of about N$10 000.
The road race winner will receive N$2 500, the mountain nike winner will receive N$2 000, and the rider who has the best combined time for both events will receive N$3 200. Besides that there are also other prizes like Gondwana Lodge and wine gift vouchers.
Regarding the contestants, Drikus Coetzee, Alex Miller, Gerhard Mans Junior, Xavier Papo, Martin Freyer and Ingram Cuff should be amongst the favourites in the Men’s 100km race.
Coetzee won the event a few years ago in 2019 and narrowly lost out on gold last year when he came second behind Hugo Hahn, while he is also the defending national road race champion.
He just completed a gruelling ultra-marathon ride in South Africa last weekend where he won the 514km Munga Grit Cradle in a new record time, but confirmed that he will be at the starting line-up for Sunday’s road race.
Miller made a stunning debut at the Commonwealth Games in August when he won a bronze medal in the MTB cross country race and will be a strong favourite for both events.
Last year’s road race champion Hugo Hahn is still recovering after he broke his collarbone in a fall in Europe where he was on a UCI scholarship and will not be back to defend his title.
Amongst the women, the 19-year-old Monique du Plessis, who won the senior women’s title at the national MTB Championships this year, will be amongst the favourites, along with other riders like Melissa Hinz, Courtney Liebenberg and Genevieve Weber.
Race registration will take place at SKW from 16h00 to 19h00 today where cyclists can collect their race numbers. According to Du Plooy, late registrations will also be accepted at the normal entry fee of N$150 per cyclist.
The organisers have announced that Sean McBride Street in Olympia will be closed for traffic on Sunday, between 06h30 and 12h00. Motorists must please make use of alternative routes.
The Namibian Cycle Classic was launched in 1999 and has since then taken place every year, even during covid when race entries were limited and prize giving scrapped.
Entries have been streaming in over the past week, especially after a late surge according to race organiser Pierre de Plooy.
“Online entries were a bit slow and then with the Namibian domain name problems, internet access was restricted on Tuesday, but there was a late surge with 200 entrants alone on Wednesday. We will definitely top the 1 000 mark for the first time in recent years,” he said.
As usual the event will start with the mountain bike classic at the IJG trails at 07h00 tomorrow with riders competing in 15km, 30km and 50km categories, while the road race classic takes place at the same time on Sunday, covering 15km, 25km, 60km and 100km categories, while the start and finish is at SKW.
The Namibian, as co-title sponsor, has also ploughed back with a significant financial investment, including sponsoring some of the teams.
“Amongst others, we are sponsoring two water points, as well as 60 cyclists from Physically Active Youth – we paid their entrance fee and also helped repair their bikes,” Elrich Tilling of The Namibian said.
“We are also sponsoring nine para-cyclists – four visually impaired riders who are riding in two pairs on tandems, and five wheelchair riders,” he added.
Danny Meyer of the Windhoek Rotary Club and a member of the race organising committee said it will be a big logistical exercise.
“We hope to raise about N$200 000 for the Windhoek Rotary Club that will go towards needy causes, but the entrance fee of N$150 per cyclist will go to our technical partners who use it for a sports development trust. There are also quite a lot of expenses like paying the marshalls and cleaning up afterwards, and it will be quite a big logistical exercise, but we have to make sure that it runs like a well-oiled machine,” he said.
There will be entertainment areas at both venues, with face-painting, jumping castles, as well as the Kiddies Classic on Saturday morning. Some local artists will be performing and both the IJG trails and SKW venues will have large screens where people can follow the progress of the riders.
The Namibian will provide extensive coverage of the event with live commentary on Desert Radio and live tracking on its social media platforms.
The total prize money of N$80 000 will be distributed over all the categories, while the top cyclists can receive cash and prizes in kind to the value of about N$10 000.
The road race winner will receive N$2 500, the mountain nike winner will receive N$2 000, and the rider who has the best combined time for both events will receive N$3 200. Besides that there are also other prizes like Gondwana Lodge and wine gift vouchers.
Regarding the contestants, Drikus Coetzee, Alex Miller, Gerhard Mans Junior, Xavier Papo, Martin Freyer and Ingram Cuff should be amongst the favourites in the Men’s 100km race.
Coetzee won the event a few years ago in 2019 and narrowly lost out on gold last year when he came second behind Hugo Hahn, while he is also the defending national road race champion.
He just completed a gruelling ultra-marathon ride in South Africa last weekend where he won the 514km Munga Grit Cradle in a new record time, but confirmed that he will be at the starting line-up for Sunday’s road race.
Miller made a stunning debut at the Commonwealth Games in August when he won a bronze medal in the MTB cross country race and will be a strong favourite for both events.
Last year’s road race champion Hugo Hahn is still recovering after he broke his collarbone in a fall in Europe where he was on a UCI scholarship and will not be back to defend his title.
Amongst the women, the 19-year-old Monique du Plessis, who won the senior women’s title at the national MTB Championships this year, will be amongst the favourites, along with other riders like Melissa Hinz, Courtney Liebenberg and Genevieve Weber.
Race registration will take place at SKW from 16h00 to 19h00 today where cyclists can collect their race numbers. According to Du Plooy, late registrations will also be accepted at the normal entry fee of N$150 per cyclist.
The organisers have announced that Sean McBride Street in Olympia will be closed for traffic on Sunday, between 06h30 and 12h00. Motorists must please make use of alternative routes.
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