Craven wins yellow jersey at Tour du Senegal

WINDHOEK, 28 APR – Professional cyclist Dan Craven won the yellow jersey on Friday after winning stage five of the 17th edition of Tour du Senegal .
The win now puts the Namibian cyclist, who participated in the Commonwealth Games earlier this month, on the lead of the tour with two more stages to complete.
Craven is riding for his European team Embrace the World Cycling, which is based in Germany.
The Tour du Senegal is a stage cycling race held annually in Senegal since 2001 and forms part of the International Cycling Union (UCI) Africa Tour.
Craven told Nampa via WhatsApp on Friday that winning the yellow jersey means a lot of pressure and hard work if he is to retain it for the remaining stages.
“It’s not the best field but it’s still good. My goal now is to work hard so I keep this jersey for the rest of the tour. I have a big gap to second and third and an even bigger gap to fourth, so I have a good chance [of] keeping the yellow jersey but it won’t be easy,” he said.
He added that Senegal is a very flat country but very windy and that stage six will be very tough as they will have hills for the first time while also having to ride for two kilometres in a section that has gravel due to road constructions.
“I got sick in my final preparation races for Commonwealth Games because it snowed in Tunisia where I was so I was very sad in Australia because I was only just recovering from spending a week in bed and obviously the legs had not had time to come around again,” he said.
“Now while here in Senegal my legs are finally returning to the level they should have been in Australia which kind of makes me even more sad about the Games,” Craven said.
But the Namibian rider stated that despite not having the best performance in Australia it’s great to show that the hard work was not for nothing.
Craven finished 40th at the commonwealth games held in Australia.

NAMPA