The Cycling Federation of Namibia (NCF) has hailed the 12th African Cycling Confederation (CAC) Mountain Bike (MTB) Africa Championships, held at the IJG trails on Farm Windhoek in the capital on Saturday, a resounding success.
Speaking to Nampa on Monday, NCF President, Axel Thiessen, said the event well and that the recently improved track is world class, something that the cyclists themselves attested to.
“The track is world class and the riders loved it. It was proper international standards, and it brought out the best in the cyclists. There were new routes and a few extra new obstacles,” Thiessen said.
He added that all the eight nations who took part in the competition congratulated the NCF for a job well done and Namibia is looking forward to hosting events of similar stature every three years.
The NCF President said while there were a few accidents where a few riders got injured, no one was seriously injured.
“While nothing is impossible, for us to host the World Mountain Bike Championships will be more work and even more difficult. For a committee of seven people who are doing it for the love of sport, it will require a lot to pull it off,” he said.
Thiessen said as NCF they will use the recently renovated IJG tracks to focus on the development of young and upcoming cyclists, so as to give the local cyclists the much-needed experience.
Namibian Olympic cyclist, Alex Miller, was crowned African Champion on Saturday ahead of South Africa’s Philip Buys, while Luke Michael Moir, also from South Africa, finished second and third respectively.
The event was also used by the NCF to select athletes that will represent Namibia in mountain bike races at the Commonwealth Games to be held in Birmingham, England between July and August this year.
The names of the qualifying cyclists are expected to be announced in early May.
A total of eight countries participated in the championships, namely; Mauritius, Zambia, Botswana, South Africa, Eswatini, Morocco, Tunisia and hosts Namibia.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency
