A strong national cycling team has been selected to represent Namibia at the ninth African Continental Road Cycling Championships in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt from 29 November to 5 December.
Namibia will compete in six categories, namely the Elite Men and Women, the Under 23 Men and Women and the Junior Men and Women’s categories.
Namibian professional cyclist Dan Craven who is currently riding for the Azerbaijani-based Baku Cycling Project, will lead the Men’s Elite team, which includes Windhoek-based Lotto Petrus and Gerhard Mans, and Heiko Redecker who is studying at the University of Stellenbosch.
The president of the Namibian Cycling Federation Mannie Heymans said Craven’s experience would be very important for the team.
“Dan’s a former African champion and he knows African conditions, so his experience will help the team a lot,” he said.
The Elite Women’s team consists of Heletje van Staden, who won the Namibian Cycle Classic last month, and Irene Steyn, who has dominated the Namibian mountain bike marathon scene this year and is showing great progress as a road cyclist. The Under 23 Men’s team includes Costa Seibeb, who has been competing for the World Cycling Centre African team and won his first race in Europe at the Zuri Metzgete in Switzerland in August.
The other members are Till Drobisch, who has been competing for the South African MTN Qhubeka feeder team in Europe and the up-and-coming Physically Active Youth team cyclist Fiffy Kashululu.
“Costa is in good form and Till is a good road rider and has done well for the MTN Qhubeka feeder team this year. Fiffy already attended a training camp at the African Cycling Centre this year and I think it’s a good thing to expose him to international competition now,” Heymans said.
The only entrant in the Women’s U23 category is Vera Adrian, who will be one of Namibia’s best hopes for a medal, after she won a bronze medal at last year’s African Championships in Burkina Faso.
Pascal Marggraff has been selected in the Junior Men’s category, in the absence of Michael Pretorius and Martin Freyer who are both unavailable due to exams. Chelna Neethling has been selected in the Junior women’s category.
According to Heymans the conditions will not suit Namibia’s cyclists but he was hopeful of a good performance.
“The terrain in Egypt will mostly be flat, while our riders are normally better in the hills so it will not be easy, but maybe we can pull off a surprise. I think South Africa and Eritrea will be the favourites and they should both send strong teams because these results will count towards the World Championships,” he said.
Heymans added that a good performance would strengthen the NCF’s chances of sending a big team to the Commonwealth Games next year.
“If we do well, it will improve our chances of sending a bigger team to Glasgow next year, and our long term goal is to build a strong team that can compete for medals at the 2018 Commonwealth Games,” he said.
Meanwhile, Gerhard Mans won the final road race of the Windhoek Pedal Power series this year, the Dobra Loops last weekend, after beating junior riders Martin Freyer and Michael Pretorius in a sprint to the line.
Irene Steyn beat Heletje van Staden in the Elite Women’s category, while Chelna Neethling won the Junior Women’s category.
