Konny Looser of Switzerland won the Nedbank Desert Dash for the eighth time when he beat Drikus Coetzee by a split second to the line on Saturday morning.
The two cyclists matched each throughout the marathon race with Looser taking gold in 15 hours 1 minute and 29 seconds, while Coetzee finished second, less than a second behind.
Gareth Jooste of South Africa came third more than 16 minutes behind in 15:17,36, while Namibia’s Martin Freyer came fourth, just four seconds behind in 15:17,40.
With his victory Looser added another chapter to his illustrious career as the greatest Desert Dash rider since it’s inception in 2005, winning nearly half of the solo dashes to date. His first victory came in 2015 when he launched a remarkable six-race winning streak until 2020. Tristan de Lange won the title in 2021 and Coetzee in 2022, with Looser coming second on both occasions, but the Swiss star struck back to win in 2023 and now again to push his record tally up to eight titles out of the 20 editions of the Desert Dash to date.
More than 1 000 cyclists participated in the Desert Dash which started at 14h30 at the Grove Mall in Windhoek and took the cyclists over the Khomnas Hochland, down to the desert and the coast, with the first cyclists finishing just after 05h30 on Saturday morning at Platz am Meer at Swakopmund.
Belinda van Rhyn was the first female home coming 11th overall in 18:46,59, while Nicola Fester came second (16th overall) in 19:11:27 and Irene Steyn third (20th overall) in 19:23:16.
A total of 107 cyclists completed the solo race before the 24-hour cut-off time.
Alex Miller and Caroline Bohe from Denmark, riding for the Toyota Specialized Ghost Factory team won the two-person race in a time of 14:42:50.
Daniel Abraham of the Netherlands and Namibia’s Vera Looser, riding for Mannie’s Bike Mecca Mixed team came second just over six minutes behind in 14:48:51, while Adriaan Myburgh and Alan Gordon of South Africa (riding for the Sterkspan Insect Science team) came third in 15:32:21.
A total of 47 two-person teams completed the race before the cut-off time.
The Pritzen brothers Marc and Kai, as well as Kevin Lowe and Christiaan Janse van Rensburg, riding for Cymot Racing Team, won the four-person race in a time of 14:02:29, finishing more than nine minutes ahead of the Team MBM powered by MSL Men, consisting of Justus Beulker, Brandon Plaatjies, Roger Suren and Brandon Downes (14:11:55), while Team RDx consisting of Theuns van der Bank, Du Toit van den Bergh, Waldo Zevenster and Reece McDonald came third in 14:12:00.)
A total of 121 four-person teams completed the race before the 24 hour cut-off time.
The Half Solo Dash also had a thrilling finish with Fanie Steenkamp of Namibia (8:33:58) beating competriot Jaco Lamprecht (8:33:59) after a sprint to the line, while Clauss Beukes of Namibia came third in 8:47:07.
Nick du Plessis and Chris du Plessis of the Prosure team won the Half Dash Two-Person race in 8:35:14, followed by Marcel Suren and Eckhard Waldschmidt of the Off Road Eggs team (9:03:58) and Ulande Viljoen and Fourie Steyn of the Build It Windhoek Mixed team in 9:15:34.
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