On form Namibian cyclists Drikus Coetzee and Melissa Hynes were crowned the 2023 Tour de Windhoek winners on Sunday following three days of intense cycling.

Coetzee was crowned the Yellow jersey winner, King of the Mountain (polka dot jersey) as well as the green and white jersey to complete what he termed as a memorable weekend.

“Today was a hard day as I had to defend my lead against the South Africans after my team lost three riders due to illness. The whole weekend was great cycling and the competition was really hard. I am happy that I managed to keep the yellow jersey in Namibia despite the presence of the South Africans,” he said.

Coetzee said after winning the Desert Dash last year, he took the pressure off himself by enjoying riding.

He added that he will go back to Ultra Endurance racing, which is his biggest challenge.

The top Namibian cyclist said he will also focus on helping young riders the same way he was taught, to allow other cyclists to represent the country.

On the other hand, Hinz paid tribute to her teammates, saying they had stuck to their plan perfectly well to win the event.

“This is a team event and it is not about one person. It is always tough to race day by day, but we pulled together and worked together. It was quite tough because we wanted to make it tough for others as well. We did a lot of aggressive riding,” she said.

Hinz added that she is happy with the increased number of women who are now taking up cycling as a sport of choice.

Meanwhile, in the men’s overall ranking category, Tufo BMC was ranked as the top team, ahead of South Africa’s TEG Procycling and Team DMS in second and third respectively.

In the womens overall ranking category, Simonis Storm Ladies powered by Hollard came first followed by LEMA Ladies and Cymot Ladies Racing Team in second and third respectively.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency