President of the Namibian Cycling Federation (NCF), Axel Thiessen has applauded the performance of junior riders who competed at the just-ended 2022 International Cycling Union (UCI) Mountain Bike World Championships.
The 2022 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships were held in Les Gets, France from 24 to 28 August 2022.
Namibia’s 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games representatives in mountain biking, Hugo Hahn and Alex Miller competed in the Under-23 (U-23) category while Kevin Lowe and Daniel Hahn competed in the junior categories.
About 105 riders competed in the U-23 men’s category while 113 competed in the junior category.
On Sunday, Miller crossed the line in 38th position, while his teammate Hahn was lapped twice and finished in 92nd position.
On 25 August 2022 junior rider Lowe crossed the line in 22nd position while his teammate Hahn finished 53rd.
Before partaking in the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Les Gets, the two junior riders Lowe and Hahn also represented the country at the Switzerland Mountain Biking Cross Country Cup races. They were accompanied by elite female rider Monique du Plessis and U-16 national mountain bike champion Roger Surén.
In an interview with Nampa on Sunday, Thiessen said it was a privilege for him to witness the Namibian athletes’ performances first-hand.
“This is the first time that we are sending five cyclists to the world championships. Out of the five cyclists, four completed their race – only Hugo was lapped,” he said adding that a lot of work has been done for cyclists to compete on this stage and having Lowe finish 22nd is good for Namibian cycling.
The NCF president added that the biggest focus for them at the moment is junior development.
“We currently have a few elite athletes on the international scene, therefore we are building up from the base and despite the trips to Europe being expensive we are working towards competing at many European races which will help in flying the Namibian flag high,” Thiessen said.
He also said that in the future they would like to have a coach and a support team to make work easier. This European trip was made possible by NCF, Rock & Rut MTB Club, Cymot, Mannie’s Bike Mecca and Megatech
Source: The Namibian Press Agency
