Africa-Press – Namibia. NAMIBIAN cycling scaled new heights over the weekend when it won an unprecedented four gold medals at Koedoeslaagte Trails in the Free State town of Parys, which formed part of the South African Mountain Bike Cross Country series.
Competing against South Africa’s top mountain bike riders, Namibian riders reached the podium in nine of the 11 categories, winning four gold, one silver and two bronze medals.
The event formed part of the South African MTB Cross Country Cup series as well as the international UCI junior series and as such saw South Africa’s top riders in action, with the exception of senior rider Alan Hatherly.
One of Namibia’s gold medallists, Hans du Toit, who is also the national MTB coach, said it was Namibia’s best performance yet in South Africa.
“All of South Africa’s top cross country riders were there, with the exception of their elite men’s rider Alan Hatherly who was competing in Spain where he won an international event. Namibian riders did exceptionally well – they completely surprised the South African spectators and it was without a doubt the most successful performance by a Namibian team at a top South African event,” he said.
Du Toit himself was one of the gold medallists after winning the masters men’s category, while compatriot Nick du Plessis came third.
Alex Miller and Hugo Hahn represented Namibia in the elite men’s category, where Miller got off to a good start after breaking away with South Africa’s Philip Buys, Arno du Toit and Matt Beers. The South Africans, however, pulled away on the second last lap, with Du Toit going on to win the race in one hour 29 minutes six seconds (1:29:06), beating Buys and Beers in a sprint to the line.
Miller dropped back, but persevered to finish fourth in 1:30:35, which also saw him finishing as the top u23 rider in the race, ahead of fifth-placed Luke Moir and sixth-placed Wessel Botha, who is the current African u23 champion.
Hahn, meanwhile, dropped down to 16th position after suffering a puncture, but he made a strong comeback to finish 13th overall in 1:35:04, while another compatriot Bergran Jensen came 22nd in 1:42:54.
In the elite women’s race, Monique du Plessis, who is still only 19 years old, was also unfortunate as she took a fall in the first round, but she battled on to eventually finish eighth overall in 1:43:34, while compatriot Courtney Liebenberg followed five seconds behind in ninth place.
South Africa’s Candice Lill produced a great ride to win the race in 1:25:29, finishing nearly six minutes ahead of compatriot Mariske Strauss (1:31:28), while Danielle Strydom came third in 1:34:12.
Namibia’s Daniel Hahn and Kevin Lowe were in a class of their own in the junior men’s category, where they completely dominated the race. They broke away from the rest of the field on the first lap and steadily increased their lead to finish more than two minutes ahead of the chasing pack.
Hanh beat Lowe in a sprint to the line to win the race in 1:02:00, while South Africa’s Massimiliano Ambrosi finished a distant third in 1:04:19.
Another Namibian rider, Adrian Key, finished 17th overall in 1:12:18, while compatriot Lotte Beulke came 10th in the junior women’s category in 1:07:53, finishing 10 minutes behind the South African winner, Tyler Jacobs.
The Suren siblings, Roger and Nicol, completed Namibia’s gold medal haul as both comfortably won their races.
Roger won the boys u16 race after finishing more than a minute ahead of the second placed rider, while Nicol was also a comfortable winner in the girls u12 race. Their father, Marcel Suren, finished fifth in the veteran men’s category.
Rosemari Thiel finished third to win the bronze medal in the girls u14 category, while Delsia Janse van Vuuren finished sixth in the girls u16 category.
In the boys u14 category, Namibia’s Marco Thiel, Sean Lowe and Franco Thiel finished sixth, seventh and 25th respectively, while Marcel Suren finished fifth.
Du Toit thanked the Namibian Cycling Federation and Rock & Rut for their financial support, as well as Cymot, for making a vehicle available.
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