Namibians top at Subaru

Classic Namibia’s top mountain bikers Mannie Heymans and Marc Bassingthwaighte worked their way onto the podium at the prestigious Subaru Sabie Classic at the weekend.

South Africa’s Kevin Evans took top spot in the 70km men’s race with a time of 2:48:50, with Namibia’s legendary Mannie Heymans finishing two minutes later and Marc Bassingthwaighte taking third spot two and a quarter minutes behind Mannie. Heymans, who had won the Subaru Classic on a record seven occasions before, was unable to achieve his eighth victory, but that was partly due to a tactical team effort between Heymans and Evans to secure the top two places for their team.Both Evans and Heymans ride for the MTN Energade team while Bassingthwaighte is sponsored by Trek/Garmin.Heymans qualified Namibia for the Olympic Games MTB discipline in July 2007 at the African Championships in Windhoek and has been selected to represent Namibia at the Games, while Marc Bassingthwaighte is the reserve selection.”The Namibian Cycling Federation is very happy with the Namibian riders’ form at the moment.Bassingthwaighte recently won an event in Omaruru, while Heymans and his team recently competed in the Tour de Egypt,” Glenn Howard, the vice president of the Namibian Cycling Federation, said.Another Namibian rider, Arno Viljoen, finished 13th in the Sabie Classic, one of the largest and most prestigious MTB competitions on the annual calendar.CRAVEN WINS ROAD CYCLING CHAMPIONSHIPS Meanwhile, Dan Craven once again confirmed his position as Namibia’s top road cyclist when he won the Namibian Road Cycling Championships in Okahandja on Sunday.The road cycling championships was hosted by the Okahandja Cycling Club for the first time ever, supported by sponsors Getgraphics and River Fresh.The route for the various age group categories took riders over various laps of the Okahandja-Gross Barmen road in cool conditions on Sunday February 24.In the Elite Men competition over 138km Craven powered away to blow apart the final group of three with Tjipe Murangi taking the silver medal and Jacques Celliers the bronze.Each age group was hotly contested and the relatively flat route ensured that groups stayed together for longer, however the winners in general crossed the line individually.”The Namibian Cycling Federation was pleased with the turnout for the championships with close to 100 participants, despite many of Namibia’s top riders being out of the country.Okahandja Cycling Club is congratulated on hosting an excellent national championships.This was the first time the championships have been held away from the Capital,” Howard said.The medal winners were as follows: Elite Men: (138km) 1 Dan Craven, 2 Tjipe Murangi, 3 Jacques Celliers Elite Ladies: (109km) 1 Cordula Moeller, 2 Wanda Tattersaal, 3 Al-Marie Mostert, 4 Charmaine Shannon Veteran Men: (129km) 1 Jacques Tattersaal, 2 Frank Snyman, 3 Joris Harteveld, 4 Eugene Spannenberg Veteran Ladies: (109km) 1 Helen Hibbert, 2 Conny Maritz, 3 Therese van der Colff Master Men: (76km) 1 Hennie Koehne, 2 André Huysamen, 3 Koos van Staden Junior Men: (109km) 1 Heiko Redecker, 2 Stefan Margraaf, 3 Jacobus van Zyl Junior Ladies: (76km) 1 Susan Horn U16 Boys: (62km) 1 Matthias Kreft, 2 Till Drobisch, 3 Delana du Pisani U16 Girls: (62km) 1 Michaela Milz, 2 Vera Adriaan U14 Boys: (46km) 1 Thorsten Kreft, 2 Michael Pretorius, 3 Zillan du Pisani U14 Girls: (46km) 1 Ané Hoepfner U12 Boys: (23km) 1 Pascal Margraaf, 2 Don Dyason U10 Boys: (12km) 1 Herbert Peters, 2 Pascale Henle.- www.namibiasport.com.naHeymans, who had won the Subaru Classic on a record seven occasions before, was unable to achieve his eighth victory, but that was partly due to a tactical team effort between Heymans and Evans to secure the top two places for their team.Both Evans and Heymans ride for the MTN Energade team while Bassingthwaighte is sponsored by Trek/Garmin.Heymans qualified Namibia for the Olympic Games MTB discipline in July 2007 at the African Championships in Windhoek and has been selected to represent Namibia at the Games, while Marc Bassingthwaighte is the reserve selection.”The Namibian Cycling Federation is very happy with the Namibian riders’ form at the moment.Bassingthwaighte recently won an event in Omaruru, while Heymans and his team recently competed in the Tour de Egypt,” Glenn Howard, the vice president of the Namibian Cycling Federation, said.Another Namibian rider, Arno Viljoen, finished 13th in the Sabie Classic, one of the largest and most prestigious MTB competitions on the annual calendar.CRAVEN WINS ROAD CYCLING CHAMPIONSHIPS Meanwhile, Dan Craven once again confirmed his position as Namibia’s top road cyclist when he won the Namibian Road Cycling Championships in Okahandja on Sunday.The road cycling championships was hosted by the Okahandja Cycling Club for the first time ever, supported by sponsors Getgraphics and River Fresh.The route for the various age group categories took riders over various laps of the Okahandja-Gross Barmen road in cool conditions on Sunday February 24.In the Elite Men competition over 138km Craven powered away to blow apart the final group of three with Tjipe Murangi taking the silver medal and Jacques Celliers the bronze.Each age group was hotly contested and the relatively flat route ensured that groups stayed together for longer, however the winners in general crossed the line individually.”The Namibian Cycling Federation was pleased with the turnout for the championships with close to 100 participants, despite many of Namibia’s top riders being out of the country.Okahandja Cycling Club is congratulated on hosting an excellent national championships.This was the first time the championships have been held away from the Capital,” Howard said.The medal winners were as follows: Elite Men: (138km) 1 Dan Craven, 2 Tjipe Murangi, 3 Jacques Celliers Elite Ladies: (109km) 1 Cordula Moeller, 2 Wanda Tattersaal, 3 Al-Marie Mostert, 4 Charmaine Shannon Veteran Men: (129km) 1 Jacques Tattersaal, 2 Frank Snyman, 3 Joris Harteveld, 4 Eugene Spannenberg Veteran Ladies: (109km) 1 Helen Hibbert, 2 Conny Maritz, 3 Therese van der Colff Master Men: (76km) 1 Hennie Koehne, 2 André Huysamen, 3 Koos van Staden Junior Men: (109km) 1 Heiko Redecker, 2 Stefan Margraaf, 3 Jacobus van Zyl Junior Ladies: (76km) 1 Susan Horn U16 Boys: (62km) 1 Matthias Kreft, 2 Till Drobisch, 3 Delana du Pisani U16 Girls: (62km) 1 Michaela Milz, 2 Vera Adriaan U14 Boys: (46km) 1 Thorsten Kreft, 2 Michael Pretorius, 3 Zillan du Pisani U14 Girls: (46km) 1 Ané Hoepfner U12 Boys: (23km) 1 Pascal Margraaf, 2 Don Dyason U10 Boys: (12km) 1 Herbert Peters, 2 Pascale Henle.- www.namibiasport.com.na