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Heymans rides second term in Cycling Union’s MTB Commission

Heymans rides second term in Cycling Union’s MTB Commission

The President of the Namibian Cycling Federation, Mannie Heymans, has been re-appointed for a second term to the Mountain Bike Commission of the Union Cycliste Internationale, the world governing body for sport and competitive cycling.

Heymans is also still serving as MTB representative on the board of the Confederation of African Cycling Federations, a position he was nominated for in 2015.

The MTB Commission serves in an advisory capacity to the Union Cycliste management committee. The MTB Commission consists of six members each serving a four-year period. The commission advises the governing body on regulations and events specific to the mountain bike disciplines.

In his competitive cycling career, Heymans became one of Namibia’s most accomplished cyclists. In 2000 he was named Namibia’s Sportsman of the Year.

He represented Namibia at four All Africa games and four Commonwealth Games, and he competed in three consecutive Summer Olympics. In 2008 he was Namibia’s flag bearer at the opening of the Olympic games. In 2016 at the Rio Olympic games, Heymans accompanied the national cycling team as coach and manager.

During his active career, he won the inaugural Transalp Mountain Bike stage race in 1998 and the first Absa Cape Epic in 2004.

He first became President of the Namibian Cycling Federation in 2012, making the BMX Early Rider Development Programme one of his priorities. This project recently received an accolade from the Namibia Sports Commission.

Vice President of the Namibian Cycling Federation, Rolf Adrian said “the Namibian cycling community feels very honoured to have such representation from its own ranks. [It is] an encouragement to the cycling sport in this country.”


 

 

About The Author

Mandisa Rasmeni

Mandisa Rasmeni has worked as reporter at the Economist for the past five years, first on the entertainment beat but now focussing more on community, social and health reporting. She is a born writer and she believes education is the greatest equalizer. She received her degree in Journalism at the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) in June 2021. . She is the epitome of perseverance, having started as the newspaper's receptionist in 2013.