Namibia’s Olympic cyclist, Alex Miller won the 12th African Cycling Confederation (CAC) Mountain Bike (MTB) Africa Championships at the IJG trails on Farm Windhoek in Kleine Kuppe on Saturday.

Miller came first in a time of one hour, 29 minutes and two seconds (01:29:02) ahead of South Africa’s Philip Buys who clocked at 01:30:38.

Third place went to Luke Michael Moir of South Africa who came home at 01:33:46.

Miller led the 25 Elite Men list from start to finish in a race that had cyclists from nine different countries.

Three other Namibians finished in the top 10 with Xavier Papo missing out on a podium place after finishing fourth with Hugo Hahn and Heinrich Kohne finishing ninth and tenth respectively.

Namibia is currently the second-highest ranked African country in mountain biking behind South Africa.

In the men’s under 23, South Africa dominated the proceedings as Johan Van Zyl came first with a time of 01:18:46. He was followed by Namibia’s Bergran Jensen whose time was 01:22:32 in second place while third place went to Michael Foster who clocked a time of 01:23:58.

In the ladies’ elite event, Mariske Strauss of South Africa was first (01:32:26) followed by fellow countrywoman Candice Lill in second (01:33:15) and Mauritius’ Mary Patricia Kimberley Le Court de Billot in third (01:37:51).

The Ladies’ under 23 was won by Andrea Schöfmann of South Africa (01:27:23) followed by another South African, Rimarí Sutton (01:28:52) and Namibia’s Monique Du Plessis came third in a time of 01:30:24.

The Namibia Cycling Federation used the event to select athletes that will represent the country in mountain bikes at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England in July and August.

The names of the qualifying cyclists are expected to be announced soon.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency