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Suren, Doman win second Nedbank WPP race

Roger Suren (centre) won the second leg of the Nedbank WPP series on Sunday. File photo

Roger Suren of Team Mannie’s Bike Mecca, and Michelle Doman of the Food Lovers Market Ladies team won the men and women’s categories of the second leg of the Nedbank Windhoek Pedal Power Cycling series on Sunday. 

The junior cyclist Suren, who is only 17 years old, completed the 12-lap race around Pionierspark in one hour 50 minutes 50 seconds, to finish two seconds ahead of Christiaan van Rensburg of Team Cymot, while Kevin Lowe of Team Cymot came third a further two seconds behind. 

They were closely followed home by Jaques Hanekom of Team Hollard Elite (1:50:54), Justus Beulker of Mannie’s Bike Mecca (1:50:55) and Theuns van der Westhuizen of Hollard Elite (1:50:59), while Martin Freyer of Hollard Elite followed nearly a minute behind in seventh place. 

After the race Suren expressed satisfaction with his performance. 

“We started easy. The first lap was calm, and then the attacks started coming one after the other. We had a breakaway of about nine riders with Drikus Coetzee and Christiaan van Rensburg breaking away from the rest. Drikus got a flat tyre, which made Christiaan continue the breakaway on his own. On lap seven, we caught up with Christiaan, which came down to the sprint, and I went all the way to take it home,” he said. 

He added that it was a tough race, and he could feel the pressure on his legs, especially from lap four to eight, even though the course was flat, and the weather was cooler due to an early start.

Team Hollard Elite comfortably won the men’s team race in a total time of 5:33:50, finishing more than two minutes ahead of Cymot Racing Team Men (5:36:17), while Mannie’s Bike Mecca came third in 5:36:18. 

Doman won the women’s race over 10 laps in 1:46:00, after beating four other cyclists in a sprint to the line. Louise Breed of Hollard Ladies and Delsia Janse van Vuuren of Mannie’s Bike Mecca came second and third respectively in the same time, while Anri Greeff of Hollard Ladies and Nicola Fester of Cymot Ladies followed a second behind in fourth and fifth places respectively. 

Hollard Ladies won the women’s team event in 5:20:38, followed by Mannie’s Bike Mecca Ladies Team (5:23:17) and Food Lovers Market Ladies (5:23:21).

Race organiser from the Windhoek Pedal Power Road Cycling Club, Stefanus Feris said they were happy to have the Copper Kettle route back after a two-year absence, while they were impressed with the large turnout of more than 200 cyclists. 

Selma Kaulinge of Nedbank Namibia congratulated the organisers on a well-attended event, saying it underlined the growth of cycling in Namibia. 

“On behalf of Nedbank Namibia, I would like to extend our heartfelt congratulations to the Windhoek Pedal Power Road Cycling Club on hosting the second cycling event of the year. The impressive turnout of 216 participants is a clear testament to the growing popularity of cycling in Namibia. Cycling has truly captured the hearts of Namibians from all walks of life,” she said. 

Kaulinge called on the Namibian Cycling Federation and all cycling clubs to continue their incredible efforts in making the sport accessible to all Namibians. 

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