Namibian cyclists eye gold
The cream of the crop has been sent to compete in Rwanda.
Namibia has named a strong 11-member team to represent the country at the African Continental Road Championships, scheduled to begin today and run to 18 February in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda.
The Namibian cyclists' ambitions in the five-day continental championship are to palm in medals for Namibia which is why the strongest of competitors were fielded to accomplish the set mission and goal for the team.
The elite men's line-up includes experienced cyclist Dan Craven, who on Sunday won the 100km men's race in the Nedbank Cycle Challenge, followed by Drikus Coetzee, and Loto Petrus in third spot. Martin Freyer, Xavier Papo and Chiponeni Kashululu are also in the team.
Craven, Coetzee and Petrus will be part of the team time trial event on Wednesday and Craven said team members were selected for the competition on how they performed in the Nedbank Challenge. The men will take part in the 168km race.
The junior team comprises of Alex Miller and Schalk van der Merwe, who took silver and bronze respectively at the Nedbank Challenge, as well as Charl du Plooy and Dieter Koen. They will take part in the 72km race.
Vera Adrian, the 100km women's winner on the Nedbank Cycle Challenge as well as the defending champion of the championship, is the only female to represent the country. She will compete in the 84km race.
She said that she has been working hard to improve on her climb in her race.
The Namibian coach, Hans du Toit, said there is great potential for the cyclists to bring home medals.
“Adrian is the defending champion in her category, which gives her the experience for medal contention.
“The juniors also stand a chance to do well. The elite men's race will be a hard but the preparation towards the race has been great.”
He further said that the championship will be used as preparation for the upcoming Commonwealth Games.
The events for the continental championships in Kigali will include time trials for both individuals and teams but the main attraction will be the road races for both men and women.
It will be the second time that Rwanda hosts the continental championships, but the first in eight years since 2010.
Rwanda already has experience in hosting high-level competitions such as Tour du Rwanda, which has earned great success over the years and is now one of the major cycling events in Africa.
Last year's African Continental Road Championships took place in Luxor, Egypt and was won by South African Willie Smit in the Men Elite category.
Namibia will compete against host Rwanda, Morocco, Eritrea and South Africa in the championship.
LIMBA MUPETAMI
The Namibian cyclists' ambitions in the five-day continental championship are to palm in medals for Namibia which is why the strongest of competitors were fielded to accomplish the set mission and goal for the team.
The elite men's line-up includes experienced cyclist Dan Craven, who on Sunday won the 100km men's race in the Nedbank Cycle Challenge, followed by Drikus Coetzee, and Loto Petrus in third spot. Martin Freyer, Xavier Papo and Chiponeni Kashululu are also in the team.
Craven, Coetzee and Petrus will be part of the team time trial event on Wednesday and Craven said team members were selected for the competition on how they performed in the Nedbank Challenge. The men will take part in the 168km race.
The junior team comprises of Alex Miller and Schalk van der Merwe, who took silver and bronze respectively at the Nedbank Challenge, as well as Charl du Plooy and Dieter Koen. They will take part in the 72km race.
Vera Adrian, the 100km women's winner on the Nedbank Cycle Challenge as well as the defending champion of the championship, is the only female to represent the country. She will compete in the 84km race.
She said that she has been working hard to improve on her climb in her race.
The Namibian coach, Hans du Toit, said there is great potential for the cyclists to bring home medals.
“Adrian is the defending champion in her category, which gives her the experience for medal contention.
“The juniors also stand a chance to do well. The elite men's race will be a hard but the preparation towards the race has been great.”
He further said that the championship will be used as preparation for the upcoming Commonwealth Games.
The events for the continental championships in Kigali will include time trials for both individuals and teams but the main attraction will be the road races for both men and women.
It will be the second time that Rwanda hosts the continental championships, but the first in eight years since 2010.
Rwanda already has experience in hosting high-level competitions such as Tour du Rwanda, which has earned great success over the years and is now one of the major cycling events in Africa.
Last year's African Continental Road Championships took place in Luxor, Egypt and was won by South African Willie Smit in the Men Elite category.
Namibia will compete against host Rwanda, Morocco, Eritrea and South Africa in the championship.
LIMBA MUPETAMI
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