Top riders to the fore in Rock & Rut series
Mountain biking
Junior rider Delsia Janse van Vuuren's win over the elite women was particularly impressive.
Martin Freyer and Jaen-Marie Mostert were the elite men and women’s winners at the Nedbank Rock & Rut series’ fourth and final race of the year, held at the Towerbos Trails west of Windhoek on Saturday.
Freyer, who was in a tight competition for the overall series title with Alex Miller, who is currently representing Namibia at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, and Kevin Lowe, rode a master-class race and won the elite men’s category.
Freyer completed the six laps of 4.6 km each (total 27.6 km) in a time of 1 hour 26 minutes 03 seconds, ahead of Theuns van der Westhuizen, who clocked 1:26:26, and Brandon Plaatjes, who finished third (1:30:56).
Mostert won the three-lap elite women’s race (13.8 km) in 1:04:14, followed by Mimi Hough (1:09:40). Both however found themselves behind Delsia Janse van Vuuren, the junior women’ winner, who completed the three laps in 56 minutes 08 seconds.
Freyer acknowledged that the Towerbos Trails is a challenging route.
Roger Surén rode with the elite front-runners and had no competition winning the U18 junior men’s race (five laps) in 1:10:21, while Marco Thiel won a competitive boys U16 race over four laps in 1:01:30.
Rose-Marie Thiel (girls U16) and Nicole Surén (girls U14) were also among the emerging female talent winning their categories on the day.
“It is incredible just having new trails outside Windhoek. The set-up here is perfect for hosting events.
“It is a difficult route with lots of climbing, but altogether, I think the trails are of international standard. The trials are quite technical; they don’t give you a lot of time to recover. This is a race you need to think about how you pace yourself through the trails,” he said.
Freyer said he felt like he paced his race perfectly, because at one stage he was fifth.
He praised the organisers and sponsors for coming up with new trails, saying it's important to decentralise the mountain bike cross-country series and offer variety to prepare riders for international competitions.
His views were echoed by Van Vuuren, who said she enjoyed the new track’s tough climbs, exhilarating downhills and sharp bends.
“I love this course the most. It is super fun. Sometimes it gets boring racing on the same tracks all the time, but this one challenged me, especially the first lap where I needed to get familiar with the terrain here.
“For example, there are slightly more turns with loose gravel here, compared to IJG Trails at Farm Windhoek,” she explained.
Nedbank’s communications and public relations manager, Selma Kaulinge, said: “As we conclude the 2024 Nedbank Rock & Rut cross-country series, we are given the opportunity to reflect how pertinent this competition is on the Namibian cycling calendar.
“Namibian mountain bike cyclists have expressed their appreciation to the organisers for hosting events like these, because they see the value of competitions like these in nurturing talent.
“We are excited for the next year’s Nedbank Rock & Rut XC Series and we hope to see our experienced and novice cyclists at the starting line yet again.”
The overall series winners will be awarded at a prize-giving ceremony hosted by the Rock & Rut Mountain Bike Club.
Freyer, who was in a tight competition for the overall series title with Alex Miller, who is currently representing Namibia at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, and Kevin Lowe, rode a master-class race and won the elite men’s category.
Freyer completed the six laps of 4.6 km each (total 27.6 km) in a time of 1 hour 26 minutes 03 seconds, ahead of Theuns van der Westhuizen, who clocked 1:26:26, and Brandon Plaatjes, who finished third (1:30:56).
Mostert won the three-lap elite women’s race (13.8 km) in 1:04:14, followed by Mimi Hough (1:09:40). Both however found themselves behind Delsia Janse van Vuuren, the junior women’ winner, who completed the three laps in 56 minutes 08 seconds.
Freyer acknowledged that the Towerbos Trails is a challenging route.
Roger Surén rode with the elite front-runners and had no competition winning the U18 junior men’s race (five laps) in 1:10:21, while Marco Thiel won a competitive boys U16 race over four laps in 1:01:30.
Rose-Marie Thiel (girls U16) and Nicole Surén (girls U14) were also among the emerging female talent winning their categories on the day.
“It is incredible just having new trails outside Windhoek. The set-up here is perfect for hosting events.
“It is a difficult route with lots of climbing, but altogether, I think the trails are of international standard. The trials are quite technical; they don’t give you a lot of time to recover. This is a race you need to think about how you pace yourself through the trails,” he said.
Freyer said he felt like he paced his race perfectly, because at one stage he was fifth.
He praised the organisers and sponsors for coming up with new trails, saying it's important to decentralise the mountain bike cross-country series and offer variety to prepare riders for international competitions.
His views were echoed by Van Vuuren, who said she enjoyed the new track’s tough climbs, exhilarating downhills and sharp bends.
“I love this course the most. It is super fun. Sometimes it gets boring racing on the same tracks all the time, but this one challenged me, especially the first lap where I needed to get familiar with the terrain here.
“For example, there are slightly more turns with loose gravel here, compared to IJG Trails at Farm Windhoek,” she explained.
Nedbank’s communications and public relations manager, Selma Kaulinge, said: “As we conclude the 2024 Nedbank Rock & Rut cross-country series, we are given the opportunity to reflect how pertinent this competition is on the Namibian cycling calendar.
“Namibian mountain bike cyclists have expressed their appreciation to the organisers for hosting events like these, because they see the value of competitions like these in nurturing talent.
“We are excited for the next year’s Nedbank Rock & Rut XC Series and we hope to see our experienced and novice cyclists at the starting line yet again.”
The overall series winners will be awarded at a prize-giving ceremony hosted by the Rock & Rut Mountain Bike Club.
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