Miller & Janse van Vuuren win Nedbank Cycle Challenge 

Alex Miller and Delsia Janse van Vuuren won the elite male and female categories of the Nedbank Cycle Challenge which took place in overcast conditions for the 40th year yesterday. 

It was the second time that Miller had won the title, following his first success in 2022, while it was a debut win for the 19-year-old Janse van Vuuren, in the absence of Namibia’s top two senior cyclists Vera Looser and Anri Greeff, who are both competing in South Africa. 

In the elite men’s 100km race, Miller, Martin Fryer, Christiaan van der Westhuizen and Nathan Chase broke away from the pack early on and built up a big lead on the chasing peleton. 

Miller, however, pulled away from the other three leaders on the home stretch and went on to win the gold medal in 2 hours 23 minutes 59 seconds, at an average speed of 42,5km/h. 

Freyer finished second in 2:24:34, while Van der Westhuizen came third in 2:25:57 and Chase fourth in 2:26:02. The latter two were also the top two juniors.

They were followed by Jaques Hanekom (2:29:19), Justus Beulker (2:29:27) and Ingram Cuff (2:29:47), who was the first veteran. 

Miller said it was a good race in favourable conditions. 

“It was a nice day to race and luckily I managed to come away with the win. It was quite wet and cloudy and the racing was fairly good – it was nice going up Kupferberg Pass at the end. Sometimes just riding on the Western Bypass can be a bit boring, so I hope to see slightly more technical courses in future – they don’t need to be more climbing, but maybe a few more corners will help. When the majority of Namibians go to a big race in South Africa, they struggle to go around corners, and it’s probably due to the fact that we just race on the bypass the whole time,” he said. 

“We managed to get away at the top of Finkenstein and then rode quite well together and they were also strong. Then coming in at the end I opened a bit of a lead on Martin and managed to hold it till the end. I wanted to make it hard from the beginning, which I think we did with Martin and the others as well and then I knew at the end, I’d have to go hard on Kupferberg and coming back,” he said. 

“I’m super happy to win this race, its one of the bigger road races in Namibia, so being able to win, it’s a privilege,” he added. 

Janse van Vuuren had a tougher time in the women’s 100km race and was pushed all the way by the junior rider Rosemarie Thiel, before winning the sprint in 3:02:21, with the first veteran, Belinda van Rhyn coming third, two seconds behind. 

They were followed by another veteran rider Louise Breed (3:05:17), while Monique du Plessis came fifth overall in 3:05:53. 

“With Anri not being here I felt as if I had a target on my back and everyone was watching my every move, so it was quite fun, but in the beginning I must say the racing was quite negative, with no one wanting to work. But then Belinda, Marie and I got away on Kupferberg and then we just worked together. We had some moments of doubt when we said we cant anymore, we are too tired, but then I said come on guys, you got this and they shouldnt catch us anymore,” she said. 

Janse van Vuuren’s victory was quite fortunate as she revealed that she was riding with a flat tyre.

“Just before the Dordabis turnaround I got a slow puncture and then on the way up Kupferberg it just started deflating more and more so I thought my race was over, but luckily it held out and then in the end I managed to take the sprint,” she said. 

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.