WINDHOEK – Namibia’s elite cyclists led by Dan Craven, Raul Costa Seibeb, Vera Adrian, Irene Steyn, Lotto Petrus, Till Drobisch, Gerhard Mans and Heiko Redecker are the eight riders that have been selected to represent Namibia at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland from July 23 – August 3 later this year.
The Commonwealth Games will also feature various other cycling disciplines such as track cycling, road cycling (individual time trial and road race) and cross-country mountain biking. The Namibian Cycling Federation (NCF) acknowledged that most Commonwealth countries are traditionally strong in track and road cycling, but the Namibian team is also ready to excel in those two disciplines.
The men’s team qualified during the African Continental Road Cycling Championships held in Egypt last year, where they scooped a silver medal courtesy of seasoned cyclist Dan Craven in the road race, and so did the women’s team, with longtime campaigner Vera Adrian winning a silver medal in the road race, and a bronze medal in the individual time trial.
Therefore the main focus of the NCF is to prepare the men’s team to excel in the road race, which takes place on the last day of the games.
Namibian riders have already been part of various cycling tours throughout Africa this year, such as the La Tropical Amissa Bongo (Tour of Gabon) in January, where cyclists like Dan Craven, Lotto Petrus, Raul Costa Seibeb all took part and the recent Tour of Cameroon where Dan Craven won the African Leaders jersey.
The Namibian team also participated in the Tour of Marocco, where Dan Craven also currently holds the UCI African Leaders jersey and the Mzansi Tour of South Africa where Till Drobisch and Raul Costa Seibeb participated.
By Staff Reporter