MARC Bassingthwaighte gave a great display of powerful cycling to win the Namibian Mountain Bike Cross Country Championships on Sunday.
Bassingthwaighte flew out of the blocks to immediately take the lead and by the end of the first 6,5km lap he had already built up a lead of close to two minutes on Mannie Heymans.Bassingthwaighte maintained his relentless pace to extend his lead and win the five lap event in a total time of 1:39:09.Heymans finished nearly 10 minutes behind in second place in a time of 1:48:56, while Heinrich Krohne finished third in 1:56:13.The National Championships took place in the steep hills behind Kleine Kuppe and many of the cyclists struggled on the rocky descents, with several picking up cuts and scratches.However, none were too serious, and all the cyclists displayed great stamina and determination to complete the technical and demanding course.Heletje van Staden won the Elite Women’s title after completing the three-lap event in 1:25:53, while Ulande Viljoen came second, more than 20 minutes behind in 1:48:53.Oliver Fryer won the Men’s U/23 category over four laps in a time of 1:43:21. He was the only U/23 cyclist who managed to complete the race as the other competitors all fell out along the way.Joze Barth won the Junior Men’s category over four laps in a time of 2:03:40, while Vera Adrian won the Junior Women’s category over three laps in time of 1:32:00.VETERANSNick du Plessis won the Veteran Men’s category over four laps in 1:37:12, followed by Frank Bombosch (1:37:46) and Mike Swanepoel (1:45:20).Sophia Snyman won the Veteran Women’s category over three laps in 1:32:53, followed by Elanor Grassow in 1:33:46 and Zoe Mitchell in 1:41:44.Paddy Murphy won the Masters Men’s category over three laps in 1:17:23, followed by JC Faul in 1:18:58 and Johnny Truter in 1:19:28.Michael Pretorius won the U/16 Boys category over three laps in 1:10:55, while Tristan de Lange won the U/14 Boys category and Lars Borg the U/12 Boys category.- namibiasport.com.na
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