Four-day Tour de Limpopo kicks off in SA
A Namibian cycling team is ready to show their peddling mettle in an international cycle race in South Africa.
LIMBA MUPETAMI
The NCCS Pro Cycling team is ready to compete in the inaugural four-day 2018 Tour de Limpopo in South Africa, which started yesterday.
The Namibian team competes from today.
The competition is a partnership between the Limpopo Tourism Agency and Cycling South Africa, and aims to showcase the diversity of the province as a premier cycling destination.
The race, which will be held in stages, will comprise of the International Cycling Union (UCI) Africa Tour 2.2 stage elite race and a veteran's tour that will follow the same routes as the elite race.
The race will take place in the capital city of Polokwane, heading east to the town of Tzaneen, covering a total distance of 427.6 km with big climbs expected during the stages.
Sonto Ndlovu, Limpopo Tourism Agencies CEO, said they are excited to host this enormous event, as they believe it will not only showcase Limpopo as an ideal adventure tourism destination, but also the beauty and scenery of the destination.
“It is against this background that large numbers of mountain bikers and 4x4 off-road enthusiasts from all over South Africa and beyond are attracted to Limpopo.
This finds resonance with Limpopo Tourism's marketing strategy, particularly on adventure tourism,” Ndlovu said.
Mike Bradley, Cycling South Africa's race director, also said riders will be racing, not only for the yellow jersey, but to improve their individual and nation's ranking on the International and African UCI ranking system.
“As a result of the UCI ranking, we welcome 64 foreign visitors, representing 18 different nationalities, from Belgium, France, Serbia Great Britain, Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Zambia, Botswana, Mauritius, Namibia and Swaziland to name a few. Many of our local professionals have never raced in the area” Bradley added.
Jacob Kiyola, NCCS Pro Cycling's principal and communications manager, said they plan to place captain Chipopeni Kashululu, Xavier Renzo Papo, and Danzel Dekoe in the top 20 at every stage.
Kiyola further said the team had light training yesterday in order to test the weather conditions and will again train today to analyse the route.
NCCS Pro Cycling co-owner and manager, Ebben-Ezer Iita, stated that the level of cycling in Namibia is lower than that of South Africa, but their aim is to build a strong team that will, in the years to come, represent the country at international competitions.
“If you look at our riders, like the upcoming ones, you can see they have the talent but lack the experience and we want to expose all these young athletes to this international competition, so they can gain more experience,” said Iita.
The team departed from Namibia on 19 April by road to enable them to arrive early and do some training before the competition. He added that they have learned from the lessons of yesteryear, when they travelled to competitions outside the country, and their riders did not have enough time to train before the competition.
The team is Chipopeni Kashululu (captain), Jafet Amukushu, Marckernzy Eiseb, Xavier Renzo Papo, Danzel Dekoe and Gouws Wynandt. -Additional reporting NAMPA
The NCCS Pro Cycling team is ready to compete in the inaugural four-day 2018 Tour de Limpopo in South Africa, which started yesterday.
The Namibian team competes from today.
The competition is a partnership between the Limpopo Tourism Agency and Cycling South Africa, and aims to showcase the diversity of the province as a premier cycling destination.
The race, which will be held in stages, will comprise of the International Cycling Union (UCI) Africa Tour 2.2 stage elite race and a veteran's tour that will follow the same routes as the elite race.
The race will take place in the capital city of Polokwane, heading east to the town of Tzaneen, covering a total distance of 427.6 km with big climbs expected during the stages.
Sonto Ndlovu, Limpopo Tourism Agencies CEO, said they are excited to host this enormous event, as they believe it will not only showcase Limpopo as an ideal adventure tourism destination, but also the beauty and scenery of the destination.
“It is against this background that large numbers of mountain bikers and 4x4 off-road enthusiasts from all over South Africa and beyond are attracted to Limpopo.
This finds resonance with Limpopo Tourism's marketing strategy, particularly on adventure tourism,” Ndlovu said.
Mike Bradley, Cycling South Africa's race director, also said riders will be racing, not only for the yellow jersey, but to improve their individual and nation's ranking on the International and African UCI ranking system.
“As a result of the UCI ranking, we welcome 64 foreign visitors, representing 18 different nationalities, from Belgium, France, Serbia Great Britain, Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Zambia, Botswana, Mauritius, Namibia and Swaziland to name a few. Many of our local professionals have never raced in the area” Bradley added.
Jacob Kiyola, NCCS Pro Cycling's principal and communications manager, said they plan to place captain Chipopeni Kashululu, Xavier Renzo Papo, and Danzel Dekoe in the top 20 at every stage.
Kiyola further said the team had light training yesterday in order to test the weather conditions and will again train today to analyse the route.
NCCS Pro Cycling co-owner and manager, Ebben-Ezer Iita, stated that the level of cycling in Namibia is lower than that of South Africa, but their aim is to build a strong team that will, in the years to come, represent the country at international competitions.
“If you look at our riders, like the upcoming ones, you can see they have the talent but lack the experience and we want to expose all these young athletes to this international competition, so they can gain more experience,” said Iita.
The team departed from Namibia on 19 April by road to enable them to arrive early and do some training before the competition. He added that they have learned from the lessons of yesteryear, when they travelled to competitions outside the country, and their riders did not have enough time to train before the competition.
The team is Chipopeni Kashululu (captain), Jafet Amukushu, Marckernzy Eiseb, Xavier Renzo Papo, Danzel Dekoe and Gouws Wynandt. -Additional reporting NAMPA
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