Hollard’s Coetzee and Greeff claim ITT victories at WPP5
Cycling
Hollard’s men's and women's teams dominated the Nedbank Windhoek Pedal Power Series 5 (WPP), last weekend when Drikus Coetzee and Anri Greeff won the Individual Time Trials (ITT) race categories.The competition saw JT Cycling team from Angola participate in the race for the second consecutive year.
In the men's ITT competition, Coetzee won the race in 2 hours 18 minutes and 34 seconds, followed by Christiaan Van Rensburg of Cymot Racing, who clocked 02:18:38 in second. In third position was Martin Freyer with 02:23:35. Angola’s Igor Silva of JT Cycling was fourth with a time of 02:23:35.
In the women’s race, Greeff beat Melissa Hinz and Genevieve Weber to the line after clocking 01:57:41 to finish first for her second win of the WPP series. Hinz clocked 01:57:47 for second place, while Weber clocked 01:57:48 for third place.
Happy with performance
Speaking after the event, Coetzee said he was happy with his performance. “The guys started attacking around seven kilometres into the race. I followed for some time and tried one move, and I saw I was gone. I had one rider at my wheel, and I had to go full out because once you have that gap, you must just go,” he said.
Coetzee added that the weather was good, despite some tailwinds and headwinds in between along the route.
He further added that due to personal reasons, he will take a sabbatical from cycling, until the coveted Nedbank Desert Dash slated for 6 December.
On her part, Greeff said she enjoyed riding the race as she worked well with her teammates.
“It was an interesting race because every time one attacked, they would always be closed down. That’s when the teamwork came into play. This is my second victory in the WPP series, so I am happy,” she said.
Team classification
Meanwhile, in the team classification, Greeff, Hinz, Lelani Swart, Elanor Grassow and Corné Van Wyk of Hollard Ladies continued their dominance and won the team race.
Right on their heels to come second was the MBM Ladies team, comprising Maja Brinkmann, Delsia Janse Van Vuuren, Irene Steyn, Belinda van Rhyn and Silke Bean. The third place was taken by the Cymot Ladies Racing team of Jean-Marie Mostert, Olivia Shililifa, Sonja Hennes and Madison Mann.
In the men’s team races, Cymot Racing Team’s Christiaan van Rensburg, Kevin Lowe, Theuns van der Westhuizen, Kai Pritzen and Gino Chiappini came first. They were followed by Hollard Insurance’s Drikus Coetzee, Ingram Cuff, Jaques Hanekom, Adrian Key, Gerhard Breed and Heiko Diehl in second. Third place was won by team JT Angola of Igor Silva, Albano Diego, Herlander Antonio, Aguinaldo Sassinde and Edivalo Ferrao.
No incidents reported
One of the race organisers, Stefanus Feris, said the racing went well with no incidents reported. “We are now looking forward to concluding the 2024 WPP Series calendar. We would like to thank all our sponsors and partners for a successful season,” he said.
Nedbank Namibia communication and public relations manager, Selma Kaulinge said: “We are incredibly proud of the winners who demonstrated exceptional skill, determination and perseverance at the Nedbank Windhoek Pedal Power Race 5. Their hard work and passion are truly inspiring.
“It was amazing seeing the participation of JT Cycling from Angola join us once again and take the podium in this round of the WPP series. With only one race left in this year’s series, we’re excited to see which cyclists walk away with the title of Nedbank Windhoek Pedal Power Race Series for 2024.”
The Nedbank Namibia WPP TTT and ITT finals event will take place on 1 September at Auas Hills.