Africa-Press – Namibia. ALEX Miller is the new African mountain bike champion after a brilliant ride on Saturday that saw him destroying the field.
In the absence of South Africa’s top rider, Alan Hatherly, who didn’t turn up for the event, Miller stamped his authority on the Elite Men’s race from the outset as he took the lead from the start.
South Africa’s Phillip Buys stayed on his wheel, but Miller gradually pulled away and by the half way stage was already 20 seconds ahead.
It was, however, over the second stage of the race that Miller’s power became evident as his relentless tempo saw him widening his lead, and he eventually took the gold medal in style, finishing more than a minute and a half ahead of Buys.
Miller won the seven-lap race in one hour 29 minutes 2 seconds, followed by Buys in 1:30:38 and South Africa’s Luke Moir (1:33:46).
Namibia’s Xavier Papo also produced a great ride to come fourth in 1:37:57, while South Africa’s Daniel van der Walt came fifth in 1:37:59.
Miller was elated with the result, saying he was in top shape for the race.
“Everything was right from the beginning, the whole week leading up to the race I felt good, my body felt good and I was looking forward to the race. The track suited me well, Ive been home for a few weeks now preparing for the race, and I’m really happy I could pull it off,” he said.
Miller, who is still only 21 years old, had originally planned to participate in the u23 category, but he changed his mind at the last minute.
“Its amazing to be the African champion. I was actually planning to ride under 23, but then I decided to upgrade to the elite category, because I was feeling so good and also because the points up for grabs were a whole lot more than for the u23s, so being able to take the title is amazing,” he said.
Miller will now return to Europe to ride for his professional team Vaude Trek and his coach Hans du Toit said his African title will be a great boost for his career.
“It’s a massive thing to win this title at his age. He will get a lot of recognition in Europe and it will definitely draw a lot of attention to his team. He also got a lot of international ranking points now which will probably put him amongst the top five u23 riders in the world,” he said.
“I don’t know why Alan didn’t turn up, but guys like Phillip and Luke definitely didn’t come here to be second, they came here to win. Phillip still beat Alex at a SA Cup race two months ago, but Alex was ready this time and gave a great performance,” he added.
Mariske Strauss of South Africa won the Elite Women’s race over six laps in 1:32:26, with compatriot Candice Lill coming second in 1:33:15, and Kim Le Court of Mauritius third in 1:37:51.
Strauss said it was a tough race.
“Candice started out really hard and I thought this is going to be a tough race, but I kept my cool and kept my pace and started winding her in. I just kept the pace hard from there and I’m just super happy with how it went. It’s always tricky to know what the body is going to do, but I’m really happy with my form, so now I’ll just do a couple of more South African races before I head to the World Cups in Europe,” she said.
“It’s always special and an honour to win the African title and I’ll wear the jersey with pride for the rest of the year. Thanks so much for everyone involved who made this race possible,” she added.
Johan van Zyl of South Africa won the u23 men’s title over six laps in 1:18:46, followed by Namibia’s Bergran Jensen (1:22:32) and Michael Foster of South Africa (1:23:58), while Andrea Schofmann of South Africa won the u23 women’s race over five laps in 1:27:23, followed by compatriot Rimari Sutton (1:28:52) and Namibia’s Monique du Plessis (1:30:24).
Ernest Roets of South Africa won the Junior Men’s category over five laps in 1:06:57, followed by Daniel Hahn of Namibia (1:07:36) and Massimiliano Ambrosi of South Africa (1:08:47), while Tyler Jacobs of South Africa won the Junior Women’s category over four laps in 1:03:15, followed by compatriots Ada Kahl (1:10:27) and Madison Mann (1:13:43).
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