Maqonda Ndlovu
Anneke Steenkamp and Daniel Abraham were crowned winners of the lady’s and men’s team’s races at the second Nedbank Namibia Windhoek Pedal Power Series on Sunday at Teufelsschlucht.
Steenkamp crossed the finishing line in a time of two hours, 14 minutes and 52 seconds (02:14:52), ahead of Silke Bean, who clocked 02:14:53 in second, and Nicole Spangenberg in third with a time of 02:14: 56.
Paralympic cyclist Daniel Abraham, who finished third in the first WPP event last week, won the race in a time of 02:25:15.
He was closely followed by Kevin Lowe, who clocked 02:25:23 in second place, and Drikus Coetzee, who was third after finishing the race in a time of 02:25:24.
With two of the six races gone, Hollard Ladies top the rankings with a total of 27 points, ahead of the MBM Ladies’ team with 22 points. Mannies Sports Lab Ladies have moved up the rankings, and are now placed 3rd with 15 points.
In the men’s rankings, Cymot Racing Team A currently leads with 42 points, followed by MBM Men in second with 41 points.
In third place is the Hollard Insurance Team, which has 40 points.
Organisers of the event said the race did not have any significant hills, as it was on the B1 Highway between the Namwater bridge and the next bridge after the Teufelsschlucht bridge, with the ladies doing four loops while the men did six.
“The strategy of this course was to make a lot of breaks until you could hopefully lose the group peloton. The ladies’ finish was interesting as three ladies broke away on the last lap, with everyone thinking they would be caught, but they stuck it up till the end,” the organisers said.
The organisers also noted that the numbers are growing, and they are now employing more safety features to ensure that cyclists during the races are a top priority.