Namibia’s Olympic cyclist, Alex Miller beat a star-studded field to win the 2022 Nedbank XC1 UCI C1 competition at the IJG Trails in Kleine Kuppe on Saturday.

The Namibian came first in one hour, thirty-nine minutes and thirty-two seconds (01:39:32) ahead of second-placed South African, Johan van Zyl who clocked 01:43:22 and 2020 World Under-23 champion Cameron Wright of Australia, who was third in a time of 01:45:38.

Miller led from the start to the finish and at one point had opened up a gap of over two and half minutes from his competitors.

In the women’s event, South Africa’s Mariske Strauss came first in a time of 01:35:18, followed in second place by Namibia’s Monique du Plessis who clocked 01:54:39. Third place went to Namibia’s Nicola Fester who was lapped but clocked 01:38:10.

The junior women’s event only had two participants and South Africa’s Ada Kahl (01:10:10) beat Namibia’s Lotte Beulker (01:13:18).

In the junior men’s event, Namibia’s Kevin Lowe (01:08:53) came first ahead of second-placed countryman Daniel Hahn (01:09:03) with third place going to South Africa’s Ernest Arnold Roets (01:15:04).

Namibia Cycling Federation (NCF) president Axel Thiessen said the event was a huge success and was one of the final races to be used to select riders who will represent Namibia at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England in July and August 2022.

He also added that they used the event to assess its venue capabilities to host the African Championships which are scheduled to take place just after the Easter holidays.

“Our aim was to test the new facility and get everything to top standard for the continental event in two weeks’ time. It was a successful event as everything went smoothly, but there are a few small lessons that we learnt yesterday which we will need to improve on before the African Championships,” he said.

The event had over 90 cyclists participating which saw them accumulating International Cycling Union (UCI) points.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency