ALEX Miller’s Olympic preparations received a boost on Thursday when he secured a vehicle sponsorship from Pupkewitz Megatech, Nedbank Namibia and Mannie’s Bike Mecca.
The latter has been sponsoring Miller since he broke onto the local cycling scene five years ago, while Nedbank Namibia and Pupkewitz Megatech came on board as sponsors two years ago.
Since making his debut at the Klein Aus Vista MTB Challenge in 2015, the 19-year-old Miller has hit the cycling community by storm, and went on to win numerous titles. He has won the national mountain bike championships for the past two years, while he also qualified for the 2021 Olympics after a qualifying process over the past year.
Gernot de Klerk of Nedbank Namibia said that Miller was worthy of their support.
“Theres no question that Alex is the star rider for Mannie’s Bike Mecca and the fact that he qualified for the Olympics is deserving of our support. He’s a young rider who came from nowhere, but through the great effort that he has put in he has qualified for the Olympics and is now representing the whole nation,” he said.
Johanna Baartman of Pupkewitz Megatech said they were proud to support him.
“Alex is still studying and training, so he’s quite busy and it’s an important year for him. Assisting him with a car to reach training and races is just another way of showing our commitment to this young cyclist to help him reach his full potential. Alex’s humble nature and commitment to his sport and growth makes us as sponsors proud to be associated with him,” she said.
Miller said he felt honoured by their support.
“I’m really honoured to have the support of all three sponsors and if it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t be where I am today. I appreciate what they have done and its amazing to be an ambassador for them. This sponsorship will help me a lot to get to my races and training, and to improve my personal life,” he said.
“My training is going well. I’m now in a base phase, where I’m putting in lots of hours for the Desert Dash and after that I’ll take a short break. It’s hard work and long hours, but it’s low intensity, so it’s not too strenuous,” he added.
Miller’s coach Hans du Toit, meanwhile, said that some top-class teams had entered the two-man category for the Desert Dash.
Namibia’s road cycling Olympian, Dan Craven, will team up with double African Games gold medallist Tristan de Lange for the Nedbank/Danste Industrial team, while Miller will team up with Braam Vermeulen for the MBM Racing team, backed up by Nedbank Namibia and Pupkewitz Megatech.
They can expect tough competition from the Pritzen brothers Mark and Kai, with the former having won the Tour de Windhoek last year, while he is also the current South African u23 road bike champion.
RMB Elite Cycling, backed by Cymot, have also entered two strong teams consisting of Melki Hamukoto and Vianney Links, and Tuhafeni Hamundjebo and Mauren Kleopas.
