23 Jul 2013

Windhoek-born mountain bike off road champion, Heinrich Köhne was crowned winner of ninth edition of Kalahari Challenge cycling race.

The two-day event that kick-started on a bitterly cold on Juy 20 morning took riders on a technical 190 kilometres route which ended on Sunday afternoon at the Gaborone Wharic Park.

Speaking a few seconds after alighting from his aluminum frame, the Namibian champion, who was fresh from a resounding victory back home in the annual  Rock and Rut Mountain Bike Cross-Country series, was excited about being crowned the overall winner in the solo entry on his first appearance. Köhne’s victory was also buoyed by the absence of defending champion, Nevelle Van Zyl who was reportedly in South Africa.

“I started off on a fast flowing single track which was very exciting and then realised why people were raving about this race. I tried to stick to the group but pulled away fairly early into the race. I lost a bit of time though and two teams went past me. Sunday was quite cold in the early morning but as the legs warmed up the pace too became manageable and I also managed to keep good time by not stopping too long at the water points,” said a delighted Köhne.

Köhne who first came to Botswana with his father as a 16-year old clocked an impressive 7 hours and 47 minutes for the entire loop. On the team entries, David Cooke and Taygan Robson arrived first ahead of other 99 teams to be crowned overall champs.  In an interview, Cooke, who was also making a debut at the race, said they maintained a consistent time in a route that was both sandy and flat.

The only team from Botswana to arrive at the finish line ahead of all others was that of Hezekiah Sibanda and Pontsho Makala. Sibanda rode as a solo rider last year but decided to rope in Makala as a partner. The route took riders from Wharic Park through Mokolodi village inching past the Lekgolobotlo and past Manyana before coiling around Ntlhantlhe to an overnight spot at a farm near Lekgolobotlo.

On day two, riders went through Otse then Mokolodi again before retiring to the finish point at Wharic Park. ENDS