Namibia: Juniors Shine At First Nedbank XC Race

By Helge Schütz

THE juniors shone at the first race of the Nedbank MTB XC series on Saturday as 17-year-old Kevin Lowe finished first overall amongst the men, while 19-year-old Monique du Plessis took the honours in the women's race.

With Namibia's top mountain bikers Alex Miller, Tristan de Lange and Hugo Hahn not in action, Lowe and another 17-year-old junior, Daniel Hahn, stepped up to steal the limelight with a great duel in the men's race at the IJG trails at Farm Windhoek.

The two immediately broke away at the start and stuck to each other wheel to wheel as they gradually increased their lead over the chasing pack.

Nothing could separate them over the six laps, until Lowe finally pulled away on the last lap to win the race in one hour two minutes and three seconds (1:02:03), with Hahn following 21 seconds behind, while Bergran Jensen was the first elite rider home, following nearly three minutes behind in 1:04:42.

Lowe was ecstatic with the win, especially as he did not feel in top form.

"It was pretty tough, and I didn't quite feel like myself today, I made a lot of small mistakes, but somehow I found the energy on the last lap to just get past Daniel to beat him. I'm super happy, its my first win in a while, so I'm super chuffed and cant wait for the next one," he said.

Lowe and Hahn last week excelled in South Africa when they came second and first respectively in the junior category in the SA XCO Cup series at the Koedoeslaagte trails, and Lowe said they caught the South Africans by surprise.

"Coming from Namibia not all the South Africans knew us and with it being our first year in the junior category, Daniel and I did not know what to expect. But we went into the lead from the beginning and we felt good the whole race and then he just got the better of me on the final sprint. It's always nice to battle with Dan, he wins one and I win one, so it's always great to have a bit of competition," he said.

Regarding the rest of the season, Lowe said he expected a close battle with Hahn.

"We've been racing a lot of road bikes recently so once we get our mountain bike form back, I think it will be pretty tight and I think we will give each other a go for the whole season."

Du Plessis, meanwhile was the first overall female after completing the five-lap race in 1:04:17.

Courtney Liebenberg managed to stay with Du Plessis till the second lap, when Du Plessis pulled away to win by more than a minute, with Liebenberg coming second in 1:05:43, while Irene Steyn came third in 1:07:09.

Du Plessis, who also competed at the SA XCO Cup series last weekend, where she came eighth in the elite women's category, said it was a great experience.

"It was really fun, I rode with Courtney for about two laps and then I overtook her and just kept my own pace till the end. Last week we had the SA Cup and it was really fun to ride with Candice Lill and all the top South African riders, so I'm happy with my form so far this season," she said.

"I didn't know where I was because it was the first time that I was riding in the u23 category. I had a crash on the first lap but then I just got back up and fought till the end and luckily I came in the top 10. I plan to continue racing in the SA Cups and hope to do better there, and here I'll just push to get better times," she added.

This article originally appeared on Namibian

Photo: Namibian