Namibia’s top male and female road racing cyclists, Drikus Coetzee and Vera Looser, dominated the opening race of the 2023 Windhoek Pedal Power Series held on the Dordabis road on Saturday.
Coetzee led the men’s category from start to finish as he completed the race in a time of two hours, 20 minutes and 29 seconds (2:20:29), five minutes and 27 seconds ahead of second-placed Kevin Lowe and third-placed Jean-Paul Burger, who was the defending champion for the last four consecutive years.
The women’s elite race was a tight affair as defending champion Looser came home first in a time of 2:15:17 ahead of five other riders, winning the race by a split second.
Second place went to Melisa Hinz (2:15:17), with third place going to Courtney Liebenberg (2:15:17) and fourth place to Anri Krugel (2:15:17).
Coming in fifth was Monique Du Plessis, who clocked 2:15:18.
Speaking to Nampa after the race, Coetzee said he was happy about the race as it puts him in contention to win the National Championships, which kick off with the Individual Time Trails (ITT) in Windhoek on Friday.
“The conditions were good for racing even though we had a headwind going and coming back. We had five to six guys in a breakaway group, which were soon reduced to three on our way back. I got a gap somewhere and managed to grow it until the finish,” he said.
Coetzee added that he had no concrete plans for this season as he will take each race as it comes.
“I will do one or two ultra-endurance races during the year. I will select races as they come. As for the Olympic 2024 men’s qualification, I think it will be difficult because they reduced the number of riders at the start list for the upcoming games, but if an opportunity presents itself, I will take it,” he said.
On her side, Looser said it was a good start for her season and she was looking forward to the upcoming local calendar before participating in the African Championships scheduled for Ghana in March.
“I will also participate in the ABSA Cape Epic in March, before I go back to Europe for the rest of the season,” she said.
Source: The Namibia Press Agency
