Erik Hoffmann won the Elite menâ??s category at the Hollard National Cycling Road Race Championships on Sunday.
Hoffmann set a blistering pace on the 124km route that stretched over the Western Bypass and included two trips up to Matchless Mine on the steep Daan Viljoen road.
He finished well ahead of second-placed Jacques Celliers and Ermin van Wyk who came third.
Hoffmann is now the Namibian champion in both the road race and time trial disciplines, after he won the National Time Trial Championships in February. Hoffmann also won the National Time Trial Championships in 2004 and 2006.
Hoffmann rides professionally for Team Lamonta in Germany and his thorough preparation over the past month helped get him in top shape for the National Championships.
His preparation included a training camp in Mallorca, Spain where he completed more than 3 000km on the road. More information can be obtained from Hoffmannâ??s personal website at www.erik-hoffmann.de.vu
Heymans, Craven miss National Championships
Some of Namibiaâ??s leading cyclists like Mannie Heymans and Dan Craven did not compete in the National Championships. After winning the Nedbank Cycle Tour in February, Craven joined his professional cycling team, TeamFidiBC.com in Italy for pre-season training. He will start competing in races on the European circuit this weekend.
Craven had won the Namibia National Road Race Championships for three years in a row, from 2004 to 2006. More information about Craven can be found on his website at www.dancraven.co.za
Heymans has been competing in mountain bike races in South Africa where he has shown impressive early season form.
At the end of February he beat close to 2 500 cyclists to win the Subaru Sabie Classic in Mpumalanga. Heymans has dominated the event over the past decade and set a new record by winning it for the seventh time.
On February 19 Heymans showed his versatility when he won the 100km PE Rotary Road Race. He beatt his South African Raleigh/MTN mountain bike team mates Ben Melt Swanepoel and Kevin Evans into second and third places respectively.
More information can be obtained from Heymanâ??s website at www.mr-african.com
Giro del Capo
Meanwhile, a six-member Namibian team will participate in the Giro del Capo which starts in Cape Town on Tuesday.
The six-stage Giro is one of the leading stage races on the African continent which sees some of the worldâ??s top professional and national teams in action.
Last year, Team Namibia came 15th out of 21 teams, while Arno Viljoen and Dan Craven were Namibiaâ??s top individual cyclists, coming 16th and 21st out of 120 cyclists respectively.
The Namibian team consists of Mannie Heymans (captain), Erik Hoffmann, Arno Viljoen, Ermin van Wyk, Lotto Petrus and Heymansâ?? mountain bike team mate, Ben Melt Swanepoel. Although Swanepoel is a South African, he is allowed to ride for the Namibian team as a guest.
Namibia Sport will keep you updated with daily results of the Giro de Capo.