SA youngsters win Tour de Windhoek
Road cycling
Anri Greeff (second) was the only Namibian individual on the podium.
South African schoolboy Alexander Erasmus, from Hoërskool Zwartkop in Centurion, and 22-year-old Kelsey-Jade van Schoor were crowned as the overall individual winners of the Pupkewitz Megabuild Tour de Windhoek yesterday.The seventh edition of the cycling tour was contested over five challenging stages in three days until yesterday, which besides a short prologue on Thursday tested riders’ versatility from hill climbing, to sprinting, to racing on the open road or the inner-city criterium stage.
Riders from Namibia, Botswana, Réunion, South Africa and Angola (a record number of countries) participated in the event.
Erasmus, riding for Team On Track, completed the race in seven hours, 24 minutes 34 seconds, overcoming his compatriots Brandon Downes and Blaine Kieck (Both riding for TEG ProCycling Team) by barely ten seconds, with their respective overall times 7:24:54 and 7:25:21.
“My first visit to Namibia was an awesome experience. The racing was different to what I’m used to, while my team mates also performed strongly against strong competition. I’ve probably never gone harder on a bike than during Saturday’s road race,” Erasmus told the media.
TEG ProCycling took the team title with Team On Track second and Hollard Men third.
The Namibian challenge suffered a blow when 2023 champion Drikus Coetzee (Hollard Men) had to withdraw prematurely due to illness.
His team mate Martin Freyer (fourth), Daniel Hahn (sixth, MBM Men) and Brandon Plaatjies (ninth, MBM Men) were the only Namibians who made it into the top ten. Freyer took the red jersey hom as the best Namibian rider.
WOMEN’S RACE
Kelsey-Jade van Schoor made her first-ever visit to Namibia count as she stepped to the top of the podium for her team Customized Cycling Pirtek.
“Each of the stages were challenging in its own way. I would not be in the yellow jersey without the support of my whole team. After four fantastic days, I would one hundred percent love to come back, since the cycling community here and all the riders in the bunch were just so kind. The Namibian riders did not make it easy at all and we had to fight for what we wanted,” Van Schoor said.
Her overall time (6:04:48) was 42 seconds ahead of the Best Namibian Rider winner Anri Greeff (Hollard Ladies), who finished second ahead of Van Schoor’s SA team mate Lucy Young.
Customized Cycling Pirtek won the best team title, with Hollard Ladies beating Cymot Racing for second spot.
Namibia Cycling Federation president Axel Theissen said the NCF is currently working with the Confederation of African Cycling to get the Tour de Windhoek accredited on the UCI calendar, which would make it a huge drawcard for men’s and women’s riders looking toi earn world ranking points.
“I honestly believe that this multi-stage race has the same opportunity to put Namibia on the global cycling map as the popular and famous Nedbank Desert Dash,” Theissen said.