ALEX Miller clinched the Nedbank National Mountain Bike title and regained the initiative from Tristan de Lange in the race for an Olympic spot with a great ride on Sunday.
Miller completed the elite men’s six-lap race in a time of one hour 32 minutes 13 seconds to comfortably beat De Lange, who finished just over three minutes behind in 1:35:14.
De Lange took the lead at the start, but Miller soon passed him on the first lap and from then on he increased the tempo to gradually pull away. By the second lap he had moved 50 seconds ahead and by the half way stage the race was just as well over with a lead of 1:30. Miller continued to push ahead and went on to win in emphatic style, finishing just over three minutes ahead of De Lange.
With the victory, Miller has now once again regained the initiative in their battle for Namibia’s Olympic spot as he leads the qualifying series 3-1 with one race to go. Interestingly, Miller’s winning time was only two seconds faster than De Lange’s winning time the previous week over the same course, and the latter was clearly disappointed with his ride.
“It was really bad and I didn’t have the legs today. I couldn’t respond to his attack and I was almost three minutes behind my time last weekend, so in all honesty I don’t know what happened,” he said.
“On the attack Alex put in a really good effort and I just couldn’t respond, so I just had to do damage control from there. It was a very disappointing day – I know I can do better, but things can only go up from here,” he added.
Miller was also a bit surprised about his comprehensive victory.
“It’s hard to say why I did so well today compared to last weekend, when Tristan was on really good form. But earlier this week I just thought that I’m going to ride my bike as hard as I can and that’s why I did the individual time trial on Wednesday just for the fun of it and it seemed to definitely benefit today’s race,” he said.
Miller, however, added that the race for the Olympic spot was still far from over.
“I think the race for the Olympic spot is still fairly open, I’m not sure when the final qualifying race will be, but I’ll definitely be putting a lot of training and hard work in for that one,” he said.
“I’m so grateful to be the national champion and I’ve got so many people to thank like my coach Hans du Toit, my sponsor Mannies Bike Mecca, Rock and Rut, Nedbank Namibia and all the people cheering for me today, it was such a mental boost and I’m really grateful,” he added.
Michelle Vorster, meanwhile dominated the elite women’s category, as she lapped the rest of the field to win the five-lap race in a time of 1:32:55.
Irene Steyn came second in 1:28:04 after four laps and Marion Schonecke third in 1:30:13.
Hugo Hahn won the junior men’s category over four laps in 1:03:13, followed by Bergran Jensen in 1:05:28, while Monique du Plessis won the junior women’s category over three laps in 1:04:53.
Hahn, who retained his title as junior champion, was clearly elated with his performance.
“It feels awesome to be the national champion again – it’s the second year in a row that I have won – and it feels great to defend my title. It’s super motivating and I hope I can carry this form through to the World Championships in October, where I’m aiming for a Top 10 or Top 20 finish,” he said.
Steffanie Grossman won the u23 women’s title after completing the five lap race in 1:42:42, while the only competitor in the u23 men’s race, Jurgen van Wyk was disqualified due to a technicality.
Christo Swartz won the sub veteran men’s category, finishing ahead of Heinrich Kohne and Annanias Annanias, while Nicola Fester won the sub veteran women’s category.
Piet Swiegers won the veteran men’s category, ahead of Greg Chase and Jacques Celliers, while Monica Grossmann won the veteran women’s category and Antje Tietz the masters women’s category.
Nick du Plessis won the master men’s category; Roland Graf the grand master men’s category and Berrit Graf the grands master women’s category.
The complete results can be viewed at raceday.events
