Seibeb wins Kia MTB

Costa Seibeb won the second leg of the KIA MTB series staged in Swakopmund last Sunday. Only two days after his victory at the Namib Quest, the 21-year-old beat U16 rider Tristan de Lange by a split second in a sprint to the line.
The talented duo completed the marathon distance in 2:14:04 hours. Gerhard Mans (2:16:20) came third, while junior cyclist Martin Freyer from the Kia team (2:18:54) missed out on a podium finish by less than three minutes.
Seibeb’s Namib Quest partner, Heinrich Köhne (2:18:56), was the third fastest elite participant, but had to settle for fifth place overall. The 27-year-old was followed by Michael Pretorius (2:19:14), another Kia sponsored junior rider.
The fastest lady was Elanor Grassow (2:47:59), who reached the finish line four minutes ahead of second placed Susanne Borg (2:52:07). Bertha Theron (2:52:46) came third.
Nick du Plessis, who is currently training for the Masters World Championships, took top honours in the men’s half marathon (1:31:44) as he outclassed his rivals Antonie van Wyk (1:45:01) and Jaco Maree (1:51:27).

In the ladies half marathon, Lee-Ann Palmhert (2:04:14) was in a class of her own as Desire Tuit (2:10:05) and Michelle Fourie (2:12:08) couldn’t keep up with her pace.
A total of 141 riders took part in the four different categories. The most popular competition was the men’s marathon which attracted 76 cyclists. Six of them did not finish the race, while not a single runner of the 38 half marathon riders, dropped out.
The women’s marathon saw 13 mountain bikers participating and only one couldn’t finish the race while two of the 14 female half marathon riders gave up.
The KIA MTB series will continue with the KIA Otjiwa MTB event this coming Saturday, 1 June. Participants have to pay N$100 per entry and another N$20 per motor vehicle. They can choose between the marathon (80 km) and the half marathon (40 km) route.
Race registration and number collection will be done on Friday, 31 May, between 5 and 7 pm. Further information can be obtained from the following website: www.otjiwalodge.com/outdoor_adventures.html.
The last event of the KIA MTB Series will be the Uris Mountainbike Classic in Tsumeb on 29 June.
KIA has put aside prize money amounting to N$ 25 000 for the four races which will be handed out to the top riders.
Meanwhile, the third race of the Rock & Rut cross country series also took place in Walvis Bay last Saturday and was won by Gerhard Mans Junior. The event was co-hosted by the Coastal Cycling Club and sponsored by Kia Motors as well. Mans completed seven laps on the demanding 5.8 kilometre course in 1:24:43 hours to beat second placed Heinrich Köhne by four seconds. Martin Freyer clinched third spot in a time of 1:30:33.
The women’s race was dominated by Hester Prins (1:29:37) with Bertha Theron (1:35:46) and Zoe Mitchell (1:38:19) having to settle for second and third place respectively.
Phillip Steyn (Sub Veteran), Ian Grassow (Veteran), Bill Jooste (Grand Master), Gerhard Mans (Master) and Christopher du Plessis (Sport) came out victorious in their respective categories. The women’s titles went to Maike Borchert (Sub Veteran), Elanor Grassow (Veteran), Gizela Noci (Master) and Michelle Vorster (Sport).