WINDHOEK – Organizers of the annual Nedbank Cycling Challenge are burning the midnight oil to make the 29th edition of the yearly premier cycling bonanza a memorable event.
The Nedbank cycling race is among the most sought after events on the Namibian sports calendar and is steeped in history and rich folklore since its inception in 1996. The race has always aimed to shape the Namibian cycling landscape and provides the country’s most talented cyclists with an ideal opportunity to test their strength against the country’s crème de la crème on two wheels.
Event organizers are pulling all stops and are confident of an excellent race, as they believe this year’s race will be the toughest in history, if the level of readiness of the title contenders is anything to go by. A record 2000 cyclists, including social bikers are expected to line up in the various race categories, ranging from the 20km, 35km 75km to the grueling elite 100km race, when proceedings get underway with the 75km Mountain Bike Challenge (MTB) on the 15th of next month – before the real McCoy, a week later. Towards the end of last year, Nedbank Namibia made a conscious decision that the development of cycling in Namibia will be a vital focus area for the company going forward. “Ever since then, we have seen exceptional performances by our national cycling team in Egypt, Gabon and South Africa and as a country, we can boast that we have champions of the African continent among the current crop of local cyclists. With a little bit of luck, we may have even greater success on the international cycling stage in due course,” said Nedbank Namibia’s Managing Director (MD) Lionel Mathews, at the launch in Windhoek yesterday.
To demonstrate its commitment towards the development of local cycling, Nedbank Namibia in association with Physically Active Youth (PAY) has established the Nedbank/Pay elite men’s cycling team that has seen some of the country’s rising cyclists strut their stuff in international events with a fair measure of success. “Cycling and especially one’s ability to compete at the very top structures can be prohibitively expensive for many of our cyclists. Our philanthropic aim is to make sure the costs of participation should not be a reason why our most talented cyclists cannot prove their worth internationally,” added Mathews. In the coming days, Nedbank Namibia will announce its upgraded “Greet Power Loan”, which will see the giant financial institution finance local cyclists to acquire the premium bicycles that would allow them to hold their own in the immensely competitive international cycling environment. “However, having a quality bicycle will be pointless if one does not have the opportunity to test your own level of competitiveness against others. For this reason, we will be joining forces with various race organizers to host many competitive races in places like Windhoek, Swakopmund, Oshakati and Rehoboth throughout the course of this year,” Mathews said.
President of the Namibia Cycling Federation (NCF) Mannie Heymans, emphasized the importance of the race, urging local cyclists to enter and use the race as preparation for upcoming major events locally and internationally. Coca Cola Namibia and Namibia Health Plan (NHP) are co-sponsors of the annual cycle challenge.
By Carlos Kambaekwa