Africa-Press – Namibia. NAMIBIA’s Drikus Coetzee and Yolande de Villiers of South Africa overcame their Nedbank Desert Dash misfortune and misery to finally claim victory at Swakopmund on Saturday morning.
Coetzee (29) posted 15 hours, 17 minutes and eight seconds for victory, 21 minutes ahead of six-time winner Conny Looser (33) of Switzerland who had to settle for silver for the second successive year.
Looser was reportedly unwell and contemplated quitting at the halfway stage but “soldiered on to finish on the podium”.
Completing the top three was a fire fighter and part-time cyclist from Germany, Rick Steffen (30), whose debut participation ended in a time of 15:45:03.
“I had a perfect race all the way. It’s taken a lot of time and endurance, but I wanted this win, and now I have it. I am very happy with my performance against a field of very good riders who I have a lot of respect for,” Coetzee said.
In a touching moment, Coetzee celebrated by holding up a banner in honour of the late Namibian teenage tennis stars Suzelle and Janine Davin.
The siblings died in a car accident near Langstrand exactly 16 years ago. Their father, Herman Davin, welcomed Coetzee with tears and a warm embrace.
The Janine and Suzelle Davin Sport Trust sponsor Coetzee.
“This is very special, and I am very proud of Drikus,” Herman Devin said.
De Villiers maintained the redemption theme after crossing the finish line in 17:50:10, making up for last year’s disappointment when the 49 year-old’s race ended prematurely.
“Last year, I didn’t finish. So, it was definitely redemption. I wanted to finish. It was difficult but I decided to hang in there and finish,” said an elated De Villiers, who placed ninth overall in the solo category.
Namibia’s Courtney Liebenberg (19:01:42) and Belinda van Rhyn (19:19:43) finished second and third behind De Villiers.
“Last year was not so good with the eyes that didn’t work but this year we decided to come back and do better. I’m very happy about that.”
The 18th edition of the annual Netbank Desert Dash 24-hour mountain bike race from Windhoek to Swakopmund saw half of its approximately 150 solo riders not get to the finish line by threshold time or drop out during the race entirely.
Several two-member and four-member teams suffered the same fate. This is testimony of the gruelling nature of a race that attracts about a 1 000 riders a year, including several serious international competitors.
“The race started with a lot of wind and the Kupferberg Pass was extremely hot. So, we had a slow start because of that terrible headwind. The actual route is so corrugated and sandy, and it’s difficult to ride through the night,” De Villiers said of what the competitors had to contend with.
“You’re tired, you see stuff and you’re almost falling asleep on the bike. But from Goanikontes [Rest camp], you see that moon landscape, which was fantastic and you know you’re coming home.” Alex Miller and Mark Pritzen won the two-man category. Team Hollard took the win for the four-member category.
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