National cycling champions in the women and men’s categories, Vera Looser and Drikus Coetzee have set their sights on qualifying for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games scheduled for July and August.

Speaking to Nampa after the Nedbank National Cycling Championships on Sunday, Coetzee told Nampa that the year has started interestingly after he finished in the sprints during the first two races of the Windhoek Pedal Power.

“During the National Cycling Challenge, I rode hard and I hope I showed that I deserve to be in the Commonwealth Games team with the performances I have shown thus far,” said Coetzee who echoed that as a cyclist he always gives it his all during competitions.

The 2022 national champion added that riders still need to show what they can do in the Nedbank Cycle Challenge next week to be selected in the final squad.

“The National Cycling Federation (NCF) is busy selecting a team and we still have one more race that will allow them to announce the final squad of representatives for the Games,” he said.

Meanwhile Looser who recently represented Namibia at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games and was crowned national women cycling champion for the ninth time on Sunday, said she always enjoys wearing the national jersey especially when racing internationally.

“The competition in women cycling has grown especially in the Time Trials where three top cyclists finished the race under one minute from each other which is amazing,” she said.

Looser added that 2022 is a year that will see her focus more on cycling and training camps around Europe.

“I don’t have a fixed job in Switzerland so I can now travel around and compete at many competitions and training camps,” said Looser who added that the Commonwealth Games levels are not as high as the Olympics and she hopes to qualify as well as do better than the 15th position finished at the last Games held in Australia.

The Namibian Cycling Federation has a shortlist of 19 male cyclists who stand a chance of being selected for the Commonwealth Games squad while five elite female cyclists have been shortlisted.

Source: Namibia Press News Agency