Cycling

Heinrich Kohne notched up his second victory in the KIA Rock and Rut Mountain Bike Cross Country series when he won the second leg in Windhoek on Saturday.

Kohne led from the start to complete the five-lap 6,9km course in one hour 32 minutes 25 seconds, to finish more than four minutes ahead of Gerhard Mans who came second in 1:36:58.

Michael Pretorius, who won the Junior category, came third overall in 1:39:26, while Charl Fouche was the third-placed elite rider in 1:39:30.

The inaugural Cycle to Work Day saw a great turnout as about 200 people took to the streets of Windhoek in a procession to raise awareness for cycling safety in Namibia.

The cyclists gathered early at the Maerua Lifestyle Centre on Friday morning, with one group even driving all the way from Gobabis to be part of the procession.

One of their members, Willem Visser said it was important to show their support.

Tristan de Lange destroyed the field to win the Klein Aus Vista Mountain Bike Challenge outside Aus on Friday.

The 15-year-old De Lange completed the two-day 132km marathon in a total time of six hours 12 minutes 33 seconds, to finish more than five minutes ahead of junior Martin Freyer, who came second in 6:18:08.

Another junior cyclist Herbert Peters followed more than 30 minutes behind De Lange to come third overall in 6:45:55, while Pieter Swiegers was the first Master home, coming fourth overall in 7:09:08.

The KIA Mountainbike Series 2013 kicks off with the third edition of the Klein-Aus Vista Challenge on Thursday, 2 May and Friday, 3 May.

More than 120 participants have signed up for the popular two-stage event taking place on a challenging and scenic track in the Aus Mountains, which are located between Keetmanshoop and Lüderitz in the South West of Namibia.

The riders have the option to compete in the full marathon (132 km/66 km per day) or half-marathon (66 km/33 km per day).

Michael Pretorius won the inaugural Coastal Cycle Classic road race which took place between Walvis Bay and Swakopmund on Saturday.

Pretorius won the 100km race, which mostly took place behind the dunes, in a time of 2 hours 48 minutes 23 seconds to finish well ahead of Ingram Cuff (2:48:38) and Pascal Margraff (2:48:40).

It was a big day for the Coastal Cycling Club’s inaugural Coastal Classic road cycling event held between the coastal towns of Walvis Bay and Swakopmund on Saturday.

Heinrich Kohne was the overall winner of the Rock and Rut Mountain Bike Cross Country series in Windhoek on Saturday.

Kohne, completed the 5,7km five-lap event in an overall time of one hour 27 minutes 6 seconds, to finish nearly four minutes ahead of junior cyclist Michael Pretorius, who was second overall in 1:31:00.

Another Elite cyclist Jacques Celliers came third overall in 1:33:10.

Gerhard Mans won the fifth leg of the Windhoek Pedal Power cycling series, the Pioniers Park Loops on Sunday morning when he outsprinted the leading peloton to the line.

Mans completed the 87km 17-lap event in a time of 2 hours 9 minutes 27 seconds to finish a second ahead of Jojo Hamunyela, Michael Pretorius, Jerneil Barth, Martin Freyer, Pascal Marggraff and Lucky Mbako who all finished in the same time.

Fifi Kashululu broke away from the pack after 12 rounds and seemed tobe heading for a surprise victory, but the leading peloton caught up with him on the penultimate lap.

Tristan de Lange and Irene Steyn won the King and Queen of the Kuiseb titles after smashing the existing records at the Kuiseb Classic Mountain Bike Challange on Saturday.

The 15-year-old De Lange covered the 98km event in a record time of three hours 18 minutes 18 seconds, which was more than 24 minutes faster than the 2012 record, while Steyn’s winning time of 4:07:49, was more than 32 minutes faster than her winning time last year.

The popular Kuiseb Classic Mountain Bike Challenge takes place on Saturday when about 130 riders will depart from Windhoek at 08h00 to take on the 100km route to the Kuiseb River in the Khomas Hochland.

The route consists of a 70km marathon section from Windhoek to just before the Uis pass, followed by a final 30km mountain and cross country section on private property.

Heinrich Kohne is the defending champion after winning the King of the Kuiseb trophy last year in a time of 3 hours 43 minutes, while Irene Steyn won the Queen of the Kuiseb trophy in 4:39:58.

Junior cyclist Michael Pretorius was the overall winner of the fourth leg of the Windhoek Pedal Power series, the Dobra Loops which took place on Sunday morning.

Pretorius beat another junior cyclist Jerneil Barth in a sprint to the line to complete the 90km event in 2 hours 10 minutes 9 seconds, with Barth coming one second behind in second place.

Barth’s older brother and Under 23 cyclist Jose Barth finished third overall in 2:10:23, beating Elite cyclist Xavier Papo in a sprint to the line.