Namibia cyclists eye African glory
Namibia will field five cyclists for the African Mountain Bike Championships, to be held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, from 29 to 31 May.
The team of Christiaan van der Westhuizen, Marco Thiel, Rosemarie Thiel, Mike Baartman and Sean Lowe will compete in the Cross-Country Olympic (XCO) and Cross-Country Short Track (XCC) continental events, accompanied by coach Hans du Toit.
The team was sent off by Namibia National Olympic Committee chief executive officer Anri Parker in Windhoek yesterday, with the event also attended by Namibian Cycling Federation president Tauko Shilongo.
National coach Du Toit said the team will depart for Abidjan on Monday.
“We’re going to the African championships with a really strong junior team. Unfortunately, [one of our top juniors] Roger Surén won’t be joining us on this trip this time around,” he said.
Surén joined the Belgian Alpecin-Premier Tech cycling team last February, following his silver medal at the Junior World Championships in Switzerland last September.
Nonetheless, Du Toit expressed confidence in the contingent, revealing ambitions to qualify riders for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
“It’s a very strong team backed by the NNOC in an endeavour to take these youngsters to the Olympics,” he said.
