Namibian cyclist Vera Looser says being crowned 2023 Absa Cape Epic winner alongside her Mauritian teammate Kim Lecourt is a massive achievement for her.

The Absa Cape Epic is the largest full-service mountain bike stage race in the world. It’s the only eight-day mountain bike stage race completed by 680 teams of two persons.

Looser and her teammate were on Sunday crowned overall winners of the female category after completing eight days and 648 kilometres of cycling.

With that win, she becomes the second Namibian to win the Cape Epic after Mannie Heymans, who won the inaugural 2004 edition with Germany’s Karl Platt as his teammate.

In an interview with Nampa on Monday, Looser said it was a hard challenge and rewarding to win in the end.

‘Kim (Lecourt) and I have been teammates since last year when we competed together in Switzerland, but we have known each other for a long time as we competed in the same road bike races in Europe. After competing in the same team last year, we decided to team up for this year’s Absa Cape Epic and I am happy to see that our hard work and dedication paid off,’ she said.

She added that the win was a massive victory.

‘It’s the biggest mountain bike race in the world prestige-wise, it’s super hard and it’s an honour to be the second Namibian to be on the podium after Mannie (Heymans),” Looser said.

She further added that she is grateful to all Namibians who showed her love and support.

‘This was a massive goal for my season. It’s early in the year, I will now take a break to rest my body a little bit before I start training once again,’ she said.

Meanwhile another Namibian, 22-year-old Alex Miller, made his debut at the Cape Epic alongside his experienced South African teammate Phil Buys, whom he rides with for their South African-based team Pyga Euro Steel. The duo finished their race in the red jersey which they held on to throughout the tour. They won the all-African team category and finished eighth in the overall standing.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency