Coetzee, Looser win sprint finishes 

Drikus Coetzee and Vera Looser took the honours in the second leg of the Nedbank Windhoek Pedal Power series on the Okahandja Road yesterday after both won sprints to the line.

Coetzee completed the elite men’s race over 120km in 2:50:10, beating Ingram Cuff, Theuns van der Westhuizen and Roger Suren to the line, while the women’s race over 100km also saw a sprint finish with Looser beating Anri Greeff in 2:34:19, while Maja Brinkmann and Delsia Janse van Vuuren followed a second behind.

In the men’s race, the top four broke away from the pack early on and steadily increased their lead as the race progressed. Three of the top four – Coetzee, Van der Westhuizen and Suren – were riding for Team Hollard Insurance, with Cuff riding for Team Hollard Life – and they worked well together as they built up a big lead, eventually finishing more than seven minutes ahead of the chasing pack.

Marco Thiel of Cymot Racing Team A and Nathan Chase of Mannie’s Bike Mecca Men’s team came fifth and sixth in 2:57:57, respectively, while Danzel de Koe and Adrian Key of Hollard Life (2:58:01); and Christiaan Janse van Rensburg of Cymot Racing Team B (2:58:06) and Nicolaas Swart of Team Danste Racing (3:03:40) completed the top 10.

After the race Coetzee said their team tactics worked out perfectly.

“The race was fantastic – we had a southerly wind, so we were riding into the wind in a southerly direction and with the wind going north,” he said.

“We had a perfect plan today and we executed it very well – we showed that as Hollard riders, we all ride together, any one of us could have won and I must complement my two younger team mates Theuns and Roger for taking authority and showing up and showing maturity because they were fully committed to the plan.

“At the end of the day we all ride for a brand, Hollard, and we will always put the brand first, whatever race situation we are in. Today we finished strategically to gain the most points, on the individual ranking, as well as the team ranking,” he added.

The elite women’s race finished in a mass sprint with the top 10 riders all within two seconds of each other.

Looser said it was difficult to break away from the pack.

“Its always a super flat race and the wind played a massive role today – we tried to break it up a bit in the middle of the race and make it hard, but because of the wind, and the nature of the route, which is so flat, it’s so hard to get away, so eventually we said we’ll just come down to a sprint,” she said.

“We raced with the master men in the series which is quite exciting – it makes the race more attractive for us, but also much harder. Anri gave me a perfect lead-out in the sprint and I could take the sprint, so we took one and two, followed by all the men, which was quite a nice feeling,” she added.

Greeff said the route was a bit flat for her liking.

“It was a very flat route and the wind always plays a big role. Flat routes don’t really suit me, you can’t really do much, but sit in the bunch, so we tried to make it a bit hard in the middle but you never end up actually getting away, but it was good racing with the men,” she said.

The race saw a fine turnout of more than 150 cyclists competing in various categories.

Tiaan Nel won the men’s masters category ahead of Morne Nell and Greg Chase; Heiko Diehl won the open men’s category ahead of Justin Vosloo and Nelius Burger; and Jana von Backstrom won the open women’s category ahead of Marion Schonecke and Jean-Marie Mostert.

Max Schafer won the grand master men category, followed by Glenn Howard and Henry Page; Charmaine Lowings won the grand master women’s race, followed by Mandy Huysamen and Berrit Graf; and Anneke Steenkamp won the master women’s category followed by Elanor Grassow and Elmarie Adriaanse.

There were also various winners in the junior categories ranging from u12 to u16; the sport category, the E-Bike category and the MTB male category.

The complete results are attached.

 

In an age of information overload, Sunrise is The Namibian’s morning briefing, delivered at 6h00 from Monday to Friday. It offers a curated rundown of the most important stories from the past 24 hours – occasionally with a light, witty touch. It’s an essential way to stay informed. Subscribe and join our newsletter community.