Cycling

The Nedbank Craven Camp took place over the past weekend with 25 young and developing riders from all over Namibia basing themselves at the Omaruru Rest Camp for three days of intense training.

According to a press release issued by Proactive Sports Marketing and Management, the pivotal figure of the camp was the professional cyclist and 2012 Olympic contestant, Dan Craven. With his advice and support the 25 participants received training in fitness and strength, as well as techniques and tactics.

Almost one month has now passed since the beginning of this year’s Tour d’Afrique and the magnitude of the challenge has well and truly dawned on all participants.

During the past week cyclists had the pleasure of being introduced to their first taste of off-road riding and this addition to the equation made the going considerably tougher than it has been thus far.

After leaving Khartoum riders had a few more days of smooth riding before they hit Sudanese gravel and moved into the real rural parts of the country.

The deadline for entries for the Nedbank Cycle Challenge has been extended to Saturday, February 11, following a late surge of interest and queries from members of the public.

The Cycle Challenge, which will take place for the 27th consecutive year, has grown into one of Namibia’s biggest mass participation events over the years, and according to Nedbank Managing Director Erastus Hoveka, a big field can be expected for this year’s event.

Upon entering the city of Khartoum on Wednesday, Tour d’Afrique riders could relish the fact that they have completed section one of eight in the longest timed stage race in the world.

This landmark marks the end of the Pharaoh’s Delight section and the beginning of The Gorge section.

After riding a little more than 2 000km this journey is now well and truly underway and most riders are starting to feel comfortable with the new routine they have adopted for the next four months.

Dan Craven was a comfortable winner of the Dordabis Road Race, the third race in the Windhoek Pedal Power series on Saturday morning.

Craven won the 120km event in 3 hours 10 minutes 42 seconds to finish well ahead of Adriaan Maartens (3:11:56) and Ingram Cuff (3:12:56).

Jaco Hanekom came fourth in 3:16:33 while development rider Costa Seibeb came fifth in 3:16:36.

Michael Pretorius won the Junior Men category over 100km in 2:49:23, beating Thorsten Kreft by a second in a sprint to the line. Jernell Barth came third in 2:49:24.

Dan Craven won the second race of the Windhoek Pedal Power series, the Matchless Road Race over 106km in a time of 2:37:16 on Sunday.

Craven pulled away from Marc Bassingthwaighte with about a kilometre remaining to comfortably win the race by 17 seconds.

The 18-year-old cyclist Till Drobisch came third more than a minute behind in 2:38:44, while Ingram Cuff came fourth (2:42:02) and Damien Agnew fifth (2:43:53).

The race saw a lot of early breakaways on the Western Bypass before Bassingthwaigte made a big attack and opened up a sizeable lead past Van Eck Power Station.

The second race of the Windhoek Pedal Power (WPP) series will take place on Sunday and will start and finish at the Matchless Mine turn off on the Daan Viljoen road.

The race is scheduled to start at 07h30 with registration between 06h30 and 07h15 on race day.

The route will take the riders on a 36.8 course to Elisenheim Bridge with the elite men riding an extra three loops at Dobra for a total distance of 106.6km

The Nedbank Craven Camp to be hosted in Omaruru from 10 to 12 February is gaining steam as sponsorship involvement is starting to pay dividends and making it possible for more riders to join the camp.

During a recent visit to the Physically Active Youth (PAY) programme in Katutura it became clear to the hosts of the Craven Camp that all of the bicycles being used at the centre were worn out and in bad condition after years of use and a lack of funds to keep them in decent running order.

Namibian, Alaric Britz is one of 45 cyclists that took off from the majestic Pyramids of Giza, close to Cairo on Saturday morning with the soul aim of reaching Cape Town in four months’ time and the honour of calling themselves cross-continental cyclists.

Riders set out on the first stage of this, the longest timed stage race in the world, early on Saturday and completed 134km to reach their first desert camp. The next seven days will see them covering more than 1000km as they gradually travel further south toward  the
Sudan and ever closer  to their final destination, Cape Town.

Riders from all over the world have signed up for the spectacular annual bicycle event, the Tour d’Afrique which is celebrating its 10th birthday this year.  

On Saturday, January 14th these riders left the pyramids in Cairo behind and started their 12 000km journey across the African continent which finishes 4 months later in Cape Town, South Africa.

“It is hard to believe that the 10th Tour d'Afrique is about to start,” says company founder and environmental activist, Henry Gold.