Spotlight on Dan Craven

Namibian professional cyclist Dan Craven recently returned home for a short break from Europe where he competes at the highest level for Team Europcar.

Last year he became the first Namibian to compete at the Tour of Spain – one of the three biggest cycling races in the world – while he has also built up an impressive record as Namibia’s top cyclist over the past decade.

He first represented Namibia at the All Africa Games in 2003 and three years later won a silver medal in the individual time trial at the African Championships in Mauritius. In the same year he also made his debut at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne where he came 18th in the time trial.

In 2008 he won the gold medal at the African Championships in Morocco and in 2010 Craven once again competed at the Commonwealth Games in India, where he came 12th in the road race.

At the end of 2010 Craven won bronze at the African Championships in Rwanda to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games, but London was a disaster as he crashed out and failed to complete the race.

Round about this time Craven was struck down by a virus which slowed him down and sapped his energy and while he was still racing professionally abroad it took him a while to get back to his best.

At the end of 2013 he once again excelled at the African Championships in Egypt, winning a silver medal in the road race and a bronze medal in the individual time trial.

Last year he became the first Namibian to be signed up by a top professional team when he joined Team Europcar and followed that up with his debut at the Tour of Spain.

Having turned 32 in February, Craven is now nearing the end of his professional cycling career and the 2016 Rio Olympics probably offer the last chance for him to compete at the Olympic Games.

He seemed to be on track to reach this goal at the African Championships in South Africa in February this year when he entered the final sprint to the line in fourth place behind three South Africans.

With the top two countries qualifying directly for the Olympics, Craven just had to keep his place, but in the final sprint to the line, he was forced off the road by another cyclist and crashed out with 100m remaining.

It was a cruel blow which virtually ended his – and Namibia’s – hopes of qualifying for the Rio Olympics, but there is still a small chance that he can make it via the African tour. The top 10 cyclists on the African tour will qualify for the Olympics, but Craven, who is currently ranked 23rd, will have to readjust his programme, while also getting permission from his employer Team Europcar to do so.

“It is still mathematically possible but it will be very difficult. In order to get the points to qualify I have to do races that are currently not on my programme, so I’ll have to keep racing longer into the season, which will affect my season next year, because I’ll have to change my off-season. I’ll also have to work out how Im going to do these races because my team Europcar will not participate there, so I’ll have to see if the national team will want to do them or I’ll have to find a way of doing these races, which at the moment isn’t clear, so it’s quite complicated,” he said.

After Craven also crashed out of the London Olympics, he reckons that he still has some unfinished business to take care of.

“I crashed out in 2012, so in a way I don’t feel like I’ve actually gone to the Olympics yet – it was a kind of a disaster. So obviously I’ve got a point to prove to myself, which is why I’d really like to go back to the Olympics in Rio, but just qualifying is going to be extremely difficult. But also for Namibia, I believe it’s really important to have someone from cycling at the Olympics, because since Mannie Heymans went to the Sydney Olympics in 2000, Namibia has always had at least one cyclist at the Olympics and I don’t want that tradition to stop,” he said.

One on One with Dan Craven

Birthdate and place?

Omaruru on 1 February 1983.

Schools attended:

Omaruru and Swakopmund Primary Schools and Otjiwarongo High School.

Tertiary education:

Craven completed a BA degree in politics, economics and philosophy at the University of Stellenbosch in 2004.

Who inspired you in your youth?

Frankie Fredericks and Mannie Heymans, and my mentor Doctor Paddy Murphy.

What was your best performance?

In 2008 I won a professional race in France, called GP Cristal Energie, over 200km. I won the most aggressive rider of the day title and the king of the mountains title, and it was just like everything worked for me that day. I was still an amateur at the time so it was a big achievement for me.

Im a big fan of the Paleo diet which is also known as the Banting Diet, or Tim Noakes’ diet. There are so many good dishes to mention, but the one that I love is from the African restaurant in Independence Avenue in Windhoek – La Marmiet – it’s a peanut butter chicken curry. I got the recipe and now I often make it at home and it’s just amazing. My favourite drink is sparkling water or coffee.

Favourite music?

I’m very unspecific when it comes to music and I listen to everything. But now that I’m overseas I enjoy listening to French and Italian music.

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