WINDHOEK – Local professional cyclist Dan Craven was over the moon after completing his first Vuelta a Espana on Sunday that saw the 31-year-old become the first Namibian to participate in one of the three grand cycling tours.
The three big ones in road cycling are the Vuelta a Espana, Giro D’Italia and Tour de France.
His feat makes Namibia one of only three African nations to have a rider in a grand tour in recent years after South Africa and Eritrea.
The former African champion besides joining the elite cyclists to have completed a grand tour, has fought hard to get to the top after being plagued for several years by health issues.
It was a dream come true for Craven: “I’m somewhat stunned right now because I actually gave up on this dream several years ago but somehow came back and kept trying and here I am now.”
Craven’s primary assignment was to look after Romain Sicard and Yannick Martinez, with the pair positioning him perfectly before a climb and then blowing himself and able to get to 4th on stage 19.
Although Craven achieved the task with aplomb he was unable to get into a breakaway, which is still his personal goal.
“This was the hardest fought grand tour of the year and had more climbing than the Tour
de France, so I know I can come back next year and improve on what I did the first
time round,” he said.
Craven’s role in the team was to make sure his captain from Team Europcar, Romain
Sicard, would finish as far at the top as possible. With the help of his Namibian team member, who only joined the team in July, the Frenchman made a Top-20 place, coming in at 13th.
Craven ended the race in an overall 140th finish out of 159 finishers from a field of 219 starters. The three-week race started on the 23rd of last month covering an incredible distance of 3 240 km across Spain with the winner averaging 39.8km/h throughout.
The overall win went to Spain’s Alberto Contador, his 3rd victory on Spanish soil with archival Christopher Froome in 2nd place – 1.10 minutes off the pace leaving AlejandroValverde having to be satisfied with 3rd spot.