Africa-Press – Namibia. Namibian cyclist Roger Suren rewrote the record books when he won a silver medal in the Junior Men’s Cross Country Olympic (XCO) race at the UCI MTB World Championships in Valais, Switzerland on Friday.
By so doing he not only became the first Namibian to win a medal at the UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) World Championships, but he also became the first African cyclist to win a medal in the junior men’s category.
South Africa’s Alan Hatherly became the first African to win a medal at the UCI World Championships when he won bronze in the u23 XCO race in 2018, while he went on to win gold in the elite men’s category at last year’s World Championships. Yesterday Hatherly once again won the elite men’s category at the World Championships.
Suren has now once again put Africa on the map after a brilliant ride on the technical Olympic cross country route on Friday.
He got off to a strong start and at the end of the first of seven laps was leading the pack, just ahead of Lucas Teste of France and Lewin Iten of Switzerland.
Suren remained amongst the leaders, but by the fourth lap Teste had taken the lead, followed closely by Suren and Iten.
With one lap to go Suren once again took over at the front, but Teste regained the lead on the final lap and went on to win the gold medal, with Suren finishing 11 seconds behind, and Iten a further 21 seconds behind in third place.
It was an amazing ride and a huge improvement on his performance last year when he came 19th in the junior men’s category.
“I actually expected it to be a bit harder at the start and that gave me lots of confidence and I positioned myself well at the start. On the second lap my positioning was not too good but I noticed it early enough, so I positioned myself nicely in the front, just behind the leaders,” Suren said after the race.
“Then I attacked on the second last lap but unfortunately at the beginning of my last lap, I made a mistake and they caught me again. On the last lap I made another mistake which made me lose touch with the French guy, but I’m super happy with my second place. It’s something that has never been done before by a Namibian, so it’s something to be very proud of,” he added.
As one of the world’s top junior MTB riders Suren can now expect a radical change to his lifestyle, while a professional contract to ride at the top UCI events in Europe is now a distinct possibility. He acknowledged that the implications of his achievement has not fully sunk in yet.
“I think this is going to change my life – there are now definitely more options and I think its bigger than I realise at the moment. It will definitely change my future for the better and I’ll definitely be racing more in Europe now,” he said.
Delsia Janse van Vuuren, meanwhile, also competed at the UCI World Championships, finishing 48th in the Junior Women’s Cross Country Olympic race after being pulled off with two laps to go.
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