Namibia’s female rider Jean-Marie Mostert and male rider Martin Freyer were crowned winners of the female and male categories of the 2024 Nedbank Rock and Rut Cross Country (XC) series on Saturday.
Round four, the final round of the series, took place at new venue Towerbos Trails, located 10 kilometres outside Windhoek on the Daan Viljoen road.
In the women’s category, Mostert finished the three loops of the 4.5 km route more than five minutes ahead of her competitor Mimi Hough.
Mostert completed her race in a time of one hour, four minutes and 14 seconds (01:04:14) to win the elite women’s category, while Hough finished in 01:09:40. The standout performer was junior rider Delsia Jansen van Vuuren, who dominated the women’s category, and won the U/18 race with a time of 56 minutes and eight seconds, a full eight minutes ahead of the elite women’s rider.
In the men’s elite category, Freyer won the race, and was crowned the overall champion of this year’s Nedbank Rock and Rut Cross Country series. His closest competitor for the title Kevin Lowe found the going tough, and had to drop out of the race. The overall leader of the series, Alex Miller, could not compete as he is representing the country at the Paris Olympics.
Freyer completed the 27-kilometre race, consisting of the 4.5 km loop that had to be completed six times, in 01:26:03. He was closely followed by Theuns Van der Westhuizen, who finished 23 seconds behind with a time of 01:26:26. Brandon Plaatjes secured the third position, finishing four minutes behind in a time of 01:30:56.
The most outstanding performer of the day was U/18 rider Roger Suren, who completed five allocated loops in 01:10:21. The young rider led the race throughout, and gave the elite riders a run for their money until he finished his loops.
Freyer said he had a good race and enjoyed the new trail. “Technically this is a rock landscape, and the climbs are quite steep. This track doesn’t give you enough time to recover because it’s very steep most of the time and poses a challenge, but I managed to pace myself well, which gave me the win,” Freyer said.
He added that the new trail is of international standard and having many trails in the country gives the riders a challenge and exposure to prepare well for international competitions.
Meanwhile, Van Vuuren said competing on the new mountain bike loops was exciting.
“The race went well, and despite the challenge, I managed to complete it in 16 minutes per lap. I enjoyed the race, and my strategy was to push hard on the first, lap and then maintain the pace. The new trail has become my favourite because it presents various challenges with its steep hills,” said Van Vuuren.
– Nampa