Windhoek, April 21 – – The 2022 CAC MTB African Championships, is taking place this Saturday, 23 April 2022, at the IJG Trails in Kleine Kuppe.
The most prestigious mountain biking event of the year in the Cross Country Olympic (XCO) discipline on the African continent, will be hosted by the Namibian Cycling Federation (NCF), with Nedbank Namibia as the official sponsor. The event will have cyclists compete in categories ranging from Under 12 to Elite men and women, at the IJG Trails in Kleine Kuppe, for top honours. This event is expected to attract cyclists from over 10 African countries who will compete for title of 2022 African Continental Champion.
The event will be held under license of the Confederation of African Cycling (CAC), and the cycling governing body, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). It will be officiated by Chief Commissaire, Johan Groenewald from South Africa, World Cycling Centre Africa Director – CAC/UCI Technical Delegate, Jean-Pierre van Zyl, and Drug-free sport official, Sven-Ingo Linke, from Germany.
South Africa, Mauritius, Tunisia, Kenya, Lesotho and Morocco, have already confirmed their participation in the race. With entries still open, the NCF expects 120 cyclists to compete in the UCI races and around 250 cyclists in total. NCF President, Axel Theissen, reiterated the importance of UCI eligible riders to use this opportunity to garner up as many UCI points as possible. “This is the third time Namibia hosts the African Continental Championships. With the Covid-19 pandemic contributing to the race’s hiatus, African cyclists had to forfeit the opportunity to earn valuable UCI points. The UCI points are of relevance, since all international races cede their entrants according to the latest UCI rankings, having resulted in the fact that for the last two years, most African riders had to start at the end of the starting grid,” Theissen said.
“The NCF’s ambition is very much on the development of our sport, hence these CAC MTB African Championships are extremely important for our Junior and Under 23 cyclists. Not only will they be able to race against the best countries and riders on the African continent, but these races will also be one of the best races in preparation for the Commonwealth Games in July of this year,” he concludes.
Nedbank Namibia’s Communications and PR Manager Selma Kaulinge says that the bank is grateful for the opportunity to once again be part of the African Continental Mountain Bike Championships, “Nedbank would like to express our heartfelt gratitude towards the Confederation of African Cycling as well as the Namibian Cycling Federation, for providing a platform for Namibia to once again host the 2022 CAC MTB African Championships. It is no secret that Nedbank Namibia has had a long standing partnership with Namibian cycling, ever since we hosted the very first competitive cycling race in our country in 1986. The fact that we are able to, for the second time host this prestigious continental cycling race in our country, is a testament that our 36 years investment into the sport of cycling has not been in vain.”
“Even though Nedbank is often praised as Namibia’s foremost corporate supporter of cycling development, the real praise should go to all our Namibian cyclists, who toil – often amidst incredible hardships – to prepare themselves in representing our country with pride. In order to prepare them adequately for the global stage, we need competitive events like the African Continental MTB Championships to continuously take place in our country. We will be cheering for you all at the finish line.” Kaulinge said.
Amongst the participants will be South Africans, Matt Beers, Phillip Buys, Candice Lill, and Mariske Strauss. Our local Tokyo 2020 Olympian, Alex Miller, is in top form, having comfortably won the Nedbank XC1 UCI C1 race two weeks ago. In the Junior Men category, local cyclists, Kevin Lowe, and Daniel Hahn, will be in action in hopes of garnering UCI points. Lowe and Hahn, are currently ranked 24th and 25th respectively on the UCI Junior Men ranking.
Namibia is currently the second highest ranked African country in mountain biking, with South Africa taking precedence. The CAC MTB African Championships thus promise to be hugely exciting and very spectator friendly. Refreshments and food will be for sale at the race venue.
For more information, kindly contact the Namibian Cycling Federation at info@namcf.org.
mrobert@namibiadailynews.info
